by Joyce Wheeler

Created on: November 25, 2009   Last Updated: November 27, 2009

My belief in God comes from a variety of personal experiences I have had. While some may question if these experiences were truly God, I know beyond a shadow of doubt that they were. No science can explain away the various encounters I have had with my creator.

I was raised Catholic, but even as a child knew something with this religion was not right. I believe now it was the whole religion thing with no focus on a relationship with God. No encouragement to read the Bible or even that in order to go to heaven one needs to first to be saved. However I did not receive this enlightenment until much later in life.

My first experience with God was when I was nine. At camp I was required to ride a horse and was scared to death. I prayed and told God if I made it through alive I would pray the rest of my life. I forgot about this promise and the next morning while tending to my bunk a pain shot through my abdomen. God asked me if I forgot the promise, I prayed and the pain ceased. I continued to pray through my life of drugs, adultery, stealing, lying, running away from home and what ever else I got into.

At twenty five when I married the father of my children I was still praying as I partook in Wicca, drugs and pornography. Strange things happened during that time. I would feel pressure on the bed and thought the cat jumped up, only to find an empty space. I could feel a presence everywhere I went which made me feel very uncomfortable. Things would be in place one minute, gone the next and back again. The biggest thing was the night I woke up to see a man standing by the closet looking at me. All these things though would change one day forever.

Tae Kwon Do class, two classmates involved in a discussion concerning God and Satan. I didn't believe in Satan, evil existed because people allowed it to. One of them shared with me that by denying Satan I was allowing him access to my life. He talked about the church he attended and one Sunday night I went. This was the beginning of a whole new life. After I gave my life to Christ my outlook concerning many secular things changed, desires I once had for certain things were gone, I found some images and vocabulary all of a sudden made my stomach tighten. The biggest change however was that all the strange things which were happening suddenly stopped forever.

One night as I lay basking in the warmth and love of the Lord I heard a voice inside my head. Usually when God talks to me it is through thoughts, how do I know

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