Hope lost, hope found
Written by: Susan Michaels on Mar 22, 2010
Believe in God? What god? Dan Gaynor lost hope as a boy of 11, when his father died in a tragic kayaking accident. Turning atheist, Dan regarded God as little more than a myth and a false hope for the weak.
Eager for a career break in his late 20s, Dan was disappointed with no reply from a major newspaper. Then a lucky break! Running into a long-lost friend who knew someone at the same newspaper, Dan’s professional life was suddenly on track. Was there a God who for some reason was helping him? Should he be paying attention? Life fast-forwarded.
Fifteen years later, Dan felt a profound sense of God’s presence. It was February, 2003. A terrible avalanche had claimed seven young lives. One student, a close friend of Dan’s daughter, Paige, had shared the same birth date and love of figure skating as his daughter.
At the church memorial, Paige whispered to Dan her favorite memory of Marissa: “Sharing birthday cakes at the rink.” Dan was moved as a beautiful picture of the two girls appeared that moment on a screen at the front of the church.
Away from church for years, Dan had many unanswered questions. Marissa’s untimely death had hit a chord. It was time to find out who Jesus really was. Attending church and studying the Bible, Dan found the answers he needed.
“Jesus made good on his promise . . . he always does,” Dan said. “He has given me life abundantly.”
(Reprinted from Why Am I on This Earth? with kind permission of Fleet Publications)
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