Has God Friended You?

The hit new television program, God Friended Me, is a breath of fresh air.

It centers around the life of Miles, an outspoken atheist with his own podcast, who is sent a Facebook friend request by someone calling themselves “God.” The God account, as he refers to it as, sends Miles suggestions for new friends, people usually in trouble one way or the other.

If you haven’t seen it, I’d recommend it. I haven’t missed an episode, and so far it is fairly positive toward the Christian, and other religious, faiths.

So what's all this got to do with a blog? The show also proves the saying, God works in mysterious ways. Romans 11:33 says the same thing, just in different words.

You might say it also depicts God’s marvelous grace through miracles, although Miles uses it quite a bit on the programs. He refers to them as random acts.

When it comes to God’s miracles, I’m an expert. I grew up in Crystal River, Florida in the 1950s. It was a sleepy little fishing village at the time. My granddad, Judge E.T. Bowman, had been the town's first elected mayor and my father, Hugh, had fought in two worlds; otherwise, he stayed close to home.

I grew up in the same two-story framed house, with a loving, Christian family, so I knew I was loved and met Jesus as a nine-year-old in First Baptist Church. Most of my friends either there or the Methodist Church over on the next corner. We were poor but we never knew it because everyone else we knew was poor, too. And Daddy always had a huge garden which he shared with neighbors. He died after prostrate cancer when I was a high school senior.

We had other misfortunes, too. Like two bad auto accidents which left my mother pretty much crippled. It wasn't until I was grown and Mama was gone that I found out she had been very sick since giving birth to me in 1945.

I don't know who first said it, but my mother's favorite quote was, "What don't kill you will make you stronger." I didn't believe her at the time but God has a way of using bad circumstances in our lives to shape us into better persons.

I've seen it in my own life; such as:

• A son, while still a small child, with leukemia. We were given a 5 percent chance of his healing the day Bobby was diagnosed. Today he’s basketball coach at a small, Christian-college .

• A daughter, two months after her 17th birthday, had emergency brain surgery. Doctors told us going in that the growth was the size of a tennis ball, right up against Mandy's cerebellum. When he finished almost eight hours later, he said he’d never experienced anything like it: The imprint was still there but the growth had shrunken to the size of a tennis ball. She still has numerous health issues today, but is a foster mother and worship leader in her church.

• I personally have experienced two major strokes (CIAs) and numerous smaller strokes (TIAs), plus four heart attacks. I even spent eight months under Hospice care just more than a year ago, but I also have lost almost 100 pounds, am still here and improving all the time.

I've had my disappointments, too, as well as my own bad decisions. I wish I had been a better husband and father, because they deserved it. I wish I had been better with money, because maybe I would have more now.

But through it all -- my blunders and erroneous choices -- He has remained faithful and true. I have been blessed with a beautiful wife, three wonderful children who all know the Lord, and an awesome grandson.

I also spent almost 35 years doing my favorite thing in life – writing and editing ei) was a pastor at three churches and have now published three books, two fiction and one nonfiction. They are all three available for purchase in paperback or e-book at Amazon.com.

All those awful things came together to humble me through his grace. Thus, the title of this blog.

Photo courtesy Crystal River, Florida Visitor's Bureau

SHARE WITH US GOD'S GRACE TO YOU

Now that you know a little about me, I’d like to know about you, the readers. If something I wrote sparked an occurrence where God mysteriously showed up when you needed in your life that was interested, let me know. I’d share or not share, whichever you prefer. However, I will make this promise: Send me your story and I’ll get back with you.

One of my journalism teachers, Hugh Cunningham at the University of Florida, once told me that everyone alive has a story to tell. A journalist's job is listen long enough find it. I've found that to be the best writing advice I've ever received. So how about it? Let's hear your story.