I should have accepted Christ long ago.

If you were to encounter me six/seven months ago, you would not realize that the person then is the same one now, the one who is standing right in front of you.  

I had many problems.  Lost my job, lost other things.  Alienated myself from my friends.  Always bitter or angry, quick to pin the blame of what I was going through on others instead of taking a good look deep down and seeing that +I+ was the cause.

Guess God must have had my attention even during those dark days of despair, although I didn't realize it back then.

My wife invited me to go to church.  She had begged me to come with her before, but I told her nothin' doing.  I wanted nothing more than to sleep in on Sunday: Sunday was my only day off; I wanted to relax and have peace and quiet.  She would then go by herself to church.

Well, I finally relented and went to church with the little woman.  The pastor there was talking about salvation and what would happen to those if they didn't fess up and accept Christ.  I suddenly felt uncomforable and hot, as if liquid fire was being poured all over me and I knew that it was God.  

I knew I had to "make things right", so right in front of Him and everybody, I went up when the church had their "alter-call", where I then asked Christ to come into my life.

My wife joiend me.  She started bawling and so did I.  Even the pastor cried.  Yet the tears we shed were not tears of pain or unhappiness:  o, no.  These were tears of relief and gratitude.  I knew I needed Christ, so I made the decision to let Him into my heart.

I haven't looked back.

Then my wife got sick.  Necrotizing fasciitis, or "the flesh-eating bug".  She was in the hospital for nearly a month, and it took even longer than that for her to recover.  It has only been in the past five months that Carole has finally been able to go back to work.  The illness really knocked the stuffin' out of her.  I was so scared that I would lose her.

It was only by God's grace that Carole even survived.  

Carole lost her leg, but she has since learned to walk on a prosthetic leg and is getitng around quite well.  She is on (forearm) crutches now but seems ready to walk under her own power.  I am very proud of her at how far she has come since getting out of the hospital.

Sometimes Carole gets mad and says that she is a big burden to me, but I tell her nothing doing.  I would do anything to help her recover or help her accept the fact that she lost her leg.  I tell her if it were not for that, she wouldn't even BE here; taking off her leg saved her life.  Had her leg remained, she would have only gotten sicker and sicker (and maybe even die).

Carole is back at work and I continue to work five or six days a week.  Have to work this much to pay off my wife's medical bills.  Once we get that taken care of, then things should be a lot easier.  We are both trusting in God to help us through (in which He has!).  We have to: there is no other way.

Well, I am going to head on home and join Carole.  Maybe even take her out to eat; think she would like that.  She was off today.  She seemed a bit depressed (was also in pain due to her "stump" hurting; she gets these "phantom pains" a lot and it drives her crazy); Carole needs to take her mind off of that.  I might even splurge for a movie ("Courageous"; that looks like a good film).

~To be continued.~