Before I start my story on my spiritual experience. I would like to give a little background information on myself. I am a former atheist prior to my experience. I had a rough childhood due to my parents being drug addicts and my grandmother committing suicide when I was 12. The reason for me adding the background information is so maybe someone could understand why I became an atheist.
I will now begin with my spiritual experience. It was a Sunday morning that me and my girlfriend decided to go to the annual maple syrup festival in our area. We had no car so a friend picked us up to go. We started arguing over something stupid and it got to the point where I decided to leave instead of continuing to fight. I called a friend to come and pick me up so I can go blow some steam off. My friend Kerry who came and got me decided to ask me if I wanted to go to our local YMCA and workout. I said sure that sounds like a good idea since I needed to get my mind off of the fight I just had with my girlfriend. We made it to the YMCA parking lot and my friend went inside. I stayed outside to smoke like I always do before I go in to workout. Prior to all of this happening I had a friend suggest that I try to pray because I don't know if there is a god or not. The reason he suggested that is because I was talking to him about how I've felt so lost and spiritually dead inside (which I had no idea that's what it was at the time. I just knew I didn't like myself and I had a lot of emotional pain due to my past).
Back to the parking lot I for some reason decided to pray I had this overwhelming feeling that I should pray and do I did. I prayed to god that I needed him and that if he was really real to please reveal himself to me because I have no guidance or direction in my life, and after I prayed I noticed the wind blowing and a white flower moving in the wind on a branch. I didn't really get any instant results from my prayer nor did I feel any better. I worked out with my friend for like an hour and told my friend I felt like going home now because I was exhausted from the workout. Well he went on about how he was competing for a body building competition and he added more stuff to his workout and that he wasn't leaving for about another 2 hours. I decided that I would just walk home from the YMCA which is only about 3 miles from my house so it's not that far. I left and started my walk and as I was walking I noticed I was full of resentment towards my girlfriend and my friend at the YMCA and many other people throughout my whole life. As I got closer I decided I was going to stop and get a bite to eat before getting home. As I was within a half of mile from where I was going to get something to eat this car pulled over and parked a man got out and started to walk towards me. As he got closer I saw that he had a pamphlet of some sort in his hand and right as we were crossing paths he handed me the pamphlet that he was holding. I immediately thought to my self this has to be some religious bull crap because there's people in the town I live in always handing out religious pamphlets about god and there the kind of people holding signs on street corners that say the end is near. But I noticed this pamphlet was different it wasn't the same as the other ones I've got before.
I decided to take a look at what I had been handed and on the front of it said the new birth and when I looked at the top right hand corner there were white flowers on it. I opened up the pamphlet and out of 10 or so paragraphs that I could of read I read the one that described what the new birth is. It went on to say "it is a mystery that you cannot explain, but a reality no man can explain away. The wind is a reality no man can explain away only a fool would say I don't believe in the wind because I have never seen it and I can't understand it. See the wind move the big limbs of an oak. Watch the wind tear a house to splinters you cannot deny the reality of wind! You cannot see the Holy Spirit. You cannot explain him. But see his mighty powers make the harlot pure, the liar honest, the drunkard sober, the blasphemer pray, and then you cannot deny the reality of it." After realizing what had just happened I automatically felt the presence of something. It was an overwhelming feeling that I could never explain to anyone I share this story with. All I know is I am now a believer of jesus and god because I was open to the fact that he might exist and I noticed the miracle. I believe I was reborn so that I can see that I'm not alone in this world and that I do have a power greater than myself on my side that's loving and caring.
Just too take it a step further and to make another long story into a short one. I was baptized exactly a year later in a Christian church and that was not planned out either! Take the story for what it's worth I believe god answered my prayer that day so I didn't have to feel the way I did anymore. Also that experience saved my life. Thank you for reading and god bless.
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