But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13:16
I have shared my testimony so far in four different Seventh-day Adventist Churches, Dauphin (my home church), Winnipegosis, Silver Heights and Brandon. I have also shared a mini testimony at our Bible camp meeting at Camp Whitesands. I have at least two more sharing times set up with two more churches and I am trying to arrange more.
A number of years ago before my transformation, my wife and I belonged to the Toastmasters group. Toastmasters teaches you how to speak in public and gives you confidence. We spent a couple of years in the group until life got in the way, but got a lot of useful information during our time in the group. I use that information every time I get in front of a group of people.
My time leading up to a presentation is usually spent worrying about how it is going to go and being really nervous, which is foolish because I have nothing to be nervous about. I am a good speaker and know my subject matter so why would I have to worry? I think it’s just built into our minds and it’s difficult to avoid.
But I do love to share my story both in my testimony and my blog and I hope, and feel, that people want to hear and read about it. My testimony is called “Three Miracles” and tells the story of people I met in hospital and their recoveries, in addition to my miraculous recovery that continues today.
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Standing in front of a group of believers is wonderful as they hear and see what I experienced. They see me standing there after being told that I was laying in bed for close to seven months and being paralyzed for some of that time. They hear the love of God as he joined me and helped me through my struggles. They hear of the one prayer that I feel was the absolute greatest moment in my recovery. The prayer that I would recover the use of my hands, that worked so well. And they hear and see where I am in my recovery.
But I gain something each time I present it. I see the look on people’s faces and I have even seen some of them wiping tears from their eyes. I enjoy seeing people acknowledge that miracles are still occurring today as they hear about how close to dying I came, but through God’s grace I recovered and am able to stand and share with them. And to be honest I just enjoy standing at the front of the church and speaking in public again.
There is a downside to this as well though. For one it takes my wife away from our small home church where we are very involved in every service. When we are not there we are missed both at the front of the church and also in the pews. Another downside is physical. My feet and toes are always tingling, but when I stand for any length of time they really become “alive” and painful and burning. It actually takes a couple of days to recover from a presentation as my feet continue to tingle for a few days.
But there are certainly more positives than negatives as I feel I am on a mission to present my story to as many people as possible. How long I will be able to do this, I do not know. But I will continue to make myself available to churches so that they can hear that God is still there and working on all of us.
God bless.
Shiny Side Up 