My Spiritual Experience

My first spiritual experience happened when I was twenty years old. Standing in church, I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart. I went to the alter and asked God to forgive me for my sins, however, I was never satisfied that I had been saved. I seemed to always return to my sins. I was convicted many times over. I feel that my upbringing was the main reason for my convictions. I knew right from wrong. I knew the difference between moral and immoral, yet I struggled with the two.

I was raised by a Christian mother and daddy. We had people visiting us who were from the church. Our Pastor was a good friend to my daddy. My daddy was also my Sunday School teacher. We always had the Preacher, his wife and Deacons stopping by for Sunday dinner. I was young, yet little ears hear big things. I heard talk around the table about spiritual matters, but being a child, I did not give it much thought.

In 1984, I had been driving a semi-tractor trailer for only three months. I was still under the supervision of the man who taught me to drive. We loaded honey dew melons in California, and were on our way to Hunts Point, New York. We had taken Interstate 80. Donners Summit is a dreadful mountain for large trucks. That particular mountain is a seven percent grade, going out of California into Nevada. At the top of the mountain we stopped at the Rest Area. I had the strangest feeling come over me while my Co-driver was out of the truck. I felt as though the truck was going to start rolling backward down the long grade we had just pulled.

My Co-driver got back in the truck and I told him about my feelings. He said it was my nerves, caused from lack of sleep, and the tension of crossing that mountain. Now, as I think about it, I believe that it was a warning from the Holy Spirit. He knew the trouble that awaited us

When a car pulled out in front of us, Gary was forced to hit the brakes, his foot slapped against the floorboard. We had no brakes. We had already started our decent. On the east bound side, there are no emergency ramps for the big trucks. We had nowhere to go. We ran nearly five miles without brakes. Our load was heavy. My heart was pounding. I wanted to jump, realizing at the speed we were traveling, I would be killed if I jumped. I also realized I would die if we crashed. My only hope was Jesus. I screamed, from somewhere deep within my being,

"God have mercy on me!"

We crashed. The truck flipped over three times. I was aware of being thrown around inside the cab. At one point, I wanted to die and get it over with. The truck then caught fire. My Co-driver was trapped inside with the motor in his lap,pushing against his lungs He was pronouced dead four hours later at a Reno, Nevada hospital.

I was thrown from the truck during one of the roll overs, I landed flat on my feet. The forceful trauma to my legs when I landed, resulted in three compound fractures to my right leg. One of the bone fragments spiked my artery, I was bleeding to death. My left foot had been severed as well, with only one-quarter inch of flesh keeping it attached.

I was pulled away from the wreckage and carried to the other side of the Interstate. People stopped to help, bringing me blankets and pillows. I don't remember them. One lady I remember quite well. She knelt down at my right shoulder. Her voice was very kind, and she knew my name. I turned my head to follow the sweet, gentle voice. She was dressed in purple, and her hair appeared to be glowing. I told her I was afraid.

"Don't be afraid, an ambulance is on the way." She comforted me with her words.

Many people were around me. The C.H.I.P.S officer was kneeling down on my left side. I could hear others talking around me, but it seemed they were too far away for me to understand what they were saying. I kept my attention on the pretty lady dressed in purple. When I asked her if she would ride in the ambulance with me, she told me she could not do that, but informed me that I was going to be alright. Once inside the ambulance, just before I was given the medication that put me to sleep, or perhaps I lost control on my own accord, I looked out the back door as it was being closed, and I saw the lady again. She was in the crowd, yet she was different from the rest. She appeared illuminous. The door was closed,and I was taken away. I remembered nothing else for three weeks. I went through three emergency surgeries, and placed in ICU. I do not remember those events The first recollection of memory came the day the doctor woke me from my medically induced sleep to inform me that Gary had died, and I was going to be transfered to another ward.

Lying in my room, after leaving the ICU, I often thought of that lady. I believe that she could very possibly have been my
Guardian Angel.

A minister came to visit me several weeks after the accident. He told me that someone with a southern accent had called his office and told his Secretary that I wanted to see a Full-Gospel minister. I was either in surgery, or still in the ICU at the time the call was made. The minister explained to me that my ministering angel had made the call in my stead. He said after talking with me, he understood where the southern accent came from. I have a deep southern drawl. The minister told me that my Guardian Angel had acquired my accent after hanging out with me all those years. I can accept that. Someone had to make the call, and I was not able to do so.

Many things happened that brought me to the realization, God is in control. I was going back to surgery for the tenth time to have my foot amputated. The infection was severe. A prayer team came in and prayed over me the night before I had to go to surgery. They obeyed the scripture in James, annointing me with oil, and laying hands on me. After they prayed, they left my room. I felt a sense of ease, yet the fear was still there. I did not want to loose my foot.

When the dark shadows of night fell on my room, I was still awake, concerned about the surgery I was going to face in a few hours. I noticed a glow in the corner of my room. It did not frighten me. And then lying there alone, I heard a comforting, sweet voice say, "I promised you, I would never leave you nor forsake you."

I went to surgery that morning with an entirely different outlook. On the way to surgery, I recited the Twenty-Third Psalm. I felt peace. Knowing that if it was my time to go, I would be with God. I came back with my foot still attached, and the infection was gone. I owe it all to the healing power of the Lord.

I still have the injuries and the pain that I endure daily. The physical scars, as well as the emotional scars are a constant reminder of that night up on Donners Summit. When I think about the accident, I am reminded that God did just what I asked Him to do. He had mercy on me. I am alive today because of that mercy. II appreciate life. I love early spring mornings, listening to the birds sing. I find joy in watching a butterfly flutter, or a spider build a web. The simplicities, the stars, the wind blowing across my face, I feel the hand of God in everything. I know, that I know, that God is all power.

Did I ever get saved? Yes, I did. Going off that mountain, I realized that I would go to hell if I died. When I asked God to have mercy on me, I felt Him! I knew He was there with me. He saved me that night. Not just physically, but as the song goes,

"He reached way below the bottom for me that night."

If this little testimony of mine could possibly help someone to recognize the love of Jesus.......then my life was not saved in vain.





"We are not human beings having a spiritural experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
--Pierre Teilhard de Chardin