As a child, I was sent to Sunday school, and there I learned the song and the message that “Jesus loves me.” At the age of eight, I committed my life to God, and He made a real difference in me. Before that time, I had an awful temper and a foul mouth, but God changed me. It was a witness to my parents of how God can transform even a young child.

My younger sister and I were pretty close, and one night she told me that she was ashamed to say I was her brother. God woke me up through that.

However, as a teenager, I made some bad choices and got confused. At the age of nineteen, I found myself miserable, heartbroken, and flunking my first term in college. My younger sister and I were pretty close, and one night she told me that she was ashamed to say I was her brother. God woke me up through that. I cried myself to sleep that night, and for the first time in almost two years, I looked seriously at what I had become.

I didn’t get saved that night, but a short time later, as I was driving around in my pickup truck, God started dealing with me in a way that only He can do. He got right down to the crux of the matter and let me see that I was miserable. Even though it was nearly midnight, I drove to my pastor’s home. There I committed my life to God, and He gave me the peace and joy that drugs, partying, and all those kinds of things had not given me.

Soon, I had to face going back to college. All the guys I had partied with would be there, and I was scared. The night before I left home, I told God that I needed something from Him. While leafing through my Bible, my eyes fell on the words, “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:6). I took hold of that promise, and have clung to it ever since.

God kept me saved through five years of college. He was also with me when I left Canada to follow His leading and come to Portland, Oregon, where I married a girl in our church. Through jobs, houses, and a career path, God has led me. For a time it seemed that my wife and I were not going to be able to have children, but God stepped in and blessed us with three sons and a daughter.

I especially want to thank God for a recent blessing in my life. In November of 2013, I had surgery on my right foot, and in January of 2014, on my left foot. Following those surgeries, bones began breaking in my feet, and I could not walk without pain. I had to wear slippers to the school where I teach, and even to church. It was miserable.

When you are at a place where you know that the Lord is the only One who can do what needs to be done, He never fails.

Thankfully, when you are at a place where you know that the Lord is the only One who can do what needs to be done, He never fails. This past March at a regular Sunday night church service, I asked a couple of the brothers to anoint and pray for me according to the instructions in God’s Word. The Spirit of the Lord came down as we prayed, and I sat there enjoying the blessing. Then I looked at my feet, still in slippers, and I thought: Well I don’t feel any different. There was no warm rush; no feeling of electricity going through me. Actually, I did not feel anything other than the blessing of the Lord in my soul, but we had done what Scripture tells us to do, and I knew God was there. By the grace of God, I stood up and literally took a step of faith. The Lord healed my feet on the spot!

The next day I went back to school wearing walking boots. My classroom is on an upper floor, and I had three flights of stairs to climb. For months I had been using the elevator, but that day I used the stairs. In fact, at lunch time, before I even realized it, I was taking the steps two and three at a time!

It is wonderful to entrust my life, my body, and my future to the God who loves me. Do I deserve the blessings of God? No, but I am truly thankful for them, and I appreciate all He has done in my life.