THE GIFT OF HOPE!
"I feel at peace. I have learned that my struggles are really gifts from God that lead me to a deeper understanding of myself." Johnny
My 24 year old son Johnny gave me an amazing gift this past week. The gift of hope. In the most profoundly touching letter I have ever read, he affirmed that with God, all things are possible...with perseverance, miracles really do happen and through total surrender, soul inspiring serenity soon follows.
Johnny has spent the last ten months in a faith based recovery community, Our Lady of Hope, in St. Augustine Florida. Removed from the trappings of this world, he has embraced the gifts of the next. Placed in the arms of pure, unconditional Love, he has found the authentic freedom to become the person that God designed.
"I can't stress enough how unique my life is right now. I am so happy here because it is hard and because our routine leaves no room for spoiling." In a community of honest work, fervent prayer and brotherly bonding, my son has flourished beyond any one's expectations-except maybe my own.
I believed in Johnny, despite the darkness that covered him. I believed that the spirit of God, deeply embedded in his soul, would rise above the damaging effects of drugs and alcohol and the ugly consequences that followed. I knew that the suffocating sin that threatened his very existence, would fall to defeat at the foot of the cross. I understood-from personal experience, that the power of prayer is the pivotal weapon, in the war against addiction.
Those were challenging days. We stormed the heavens, called on the saints, and fell on bended knee more times than I can remember, begging for mercy and praying for a breakthrough from the bondage of despair that threatened Johnny's life. Then one day, wouldn't you know-the solution slipped into focus, from the seat of my own conversion, Medjugorje.
Visionary Ivan Draicevic met privately with Johnny and promised to bring him in prayer, before the Blessed Mother, during the next apparition. He said he would pray for his healing and the courage to accept it. A few weeks later, Johnny was on his way to Florida, and the beginning of his new life. "I think my whole life has led up to this place because I am finally becoming who I want to be for the rest of my life."
As his mom, I am so grateful for this miraculous gift of new life...Moving out of the darkness, into the luminous light of God's healing Love!
My 24 year old son Johnny gave me an amazing gift this past week. The gift of hope. In the most profoundly touching letter I have ever read, he affirmed that with God, all things are possible...with perseverance, miracles really do happen and through total surrender, soul inspiring serenity soon follows.
Johnny has spent the last ten months in a faith based recovery community, Our Lady of Hope, in St. Augustine Florida. Removed from the trappings of this world, he has embraced the gifts of the next. Placed in the arms of pure, unconditional Love, he has found the authentic freedom to become the person that God designed.
"I can't stress enough how unique my life is right now. I am so happy here because it is hard and because our routine leaves no room for spoiling." In a community of honest work, fervent prayer and brotherly bonding, my son has flourished beyond any one's expectations-except maybe my own.
I believed in Johnny, despite the darkness that covered him. I believed that the spirit of God, deeply embedded in his soul, would rise above the damaging effects of drugs and alcohol and the ugly consequences that followed. I knew that the suffocating sin that threatened his very existence, would fall to defeat at the foot of the cross. I understood-from personal experience, that the power of prayer is the pivotal weapon, in the war against addiction.
Those were challenging days. We stormed the heavens, called on the saints, and fell on bended knee more times than I can remember, begging for mercy and praying for a breakthrough from the bondage of despair that threatened Johnny's life. Then one day, wouldn't you know-the solution slipped into focus, from the seat of my own conversion, Medjugorje.
Visionary Ivan Draicevic met privately with Johnny and promised to bring him in prayer, before the Blessed Mother, during the next apparition. He said he would pray for his healing and the courage to accept it. A few weeks later, Johnny was on his way to Florida, and the beginning of his new life. "I think my whole life has led up to this place because I am finally becoming who I want to be for the rest of my life."
As his mom, I am so grateful for this miraculous gift of new life...Moving out of the darkness, into the luminous light of God's healing Love!
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