Tuesday, January 10, 2017

God Answers Prayers



After my wife of forty-one years died in January of 2004, I prayed that if God wanted me to get married again that he would send me a lady who would love me unconditionally and be my best friend for life. A few miles away Kathryn Jean Neff was praying a similar prayer. In August of that same year I ran out of gas in my little truck and was able to pull into her drive way. We were reunited after several years as friends. She had been one of my clients when I was selling insurance but we were both married at that time so we maintained a professional relationship. That reunion resulted in me taking her out to dinner that night. We have been together ever since. That was the answer to two prayers.

Shortly after Kathy and I were married we went to Florida for the winter, to an  RV resort, where I had spent several winters with my deceased wife. We bought a beautiful Park Model home in charming Adelaide Shores campground.

We enjoyed our beautiful little home for three winters. This campground offered all of the amenities one could think of. Kathy joined several groups of ladies at the club house and I was able to play golf five and six days a week. We enjoyed a busy social season at the clubs house such as dances and pizza parties. We spent many afternoons at the club's large swimming pool while our friends and family back up north were fighting the winter elements. Life was really, really good.

It was during our second winter in Florida, we decided to go home to spend Christmas with our family. Shortly after we arrived in Ohio, I received a call from my Urologist.  He confirmed his diagnosis of prostate cancer. Kathy and I were facing several dilemmas. Do we stay in Ohio and seek treatment at the famous James Cancer Center? Or go back to Florida for treatment?  We prayed and asked God for his guidance. My Urologist recommended that we seek treatment at Ohio State. We were concerned that we would have to travel through Ohio's bitter winter storms and forty miles away. Kathy found a world renowned Oncologist a few miles from our Florida home. His primary practice was located in Orlando. However, he also practiced in a clinic  three miles from our Florida home. I had an appointment with Dr. Eric Saunders and a new urologist, Dr. Eustace Nelson, the next week.

Doctor Saunders proved to be exactly the practitioner we needed at the time. His regimen consisted of radiation treatments five-days a week, for five weeks. Later I received  implants of fifty radioactive pellets into the tissue of the prostate gland. During this five week period Kathy and I grew closer and closer as husband and wife. She purchased a disc of the famous LADIES SING GOSPEL for us to listen to on our way to and from the clinic. That music still brings tears to my eyes. We used these sessions as dates and received my treatments as a time to worship the Lord instead of a much needed medical treatment.

Kathy and I soon realized that maintaining two homes was completely unnecessary and expensive. We were hoping that we could find a house in Avon Park, which we could afford. Again, God answered our prayers. Two of our friends at the Nazarene Church, Pete and Wanda Maas, told us that their house was for sale as they wanted to downsize into a town house in the Oaks gated community near by. We were invited to visit their home and see if it met our needs. We fell in love with the house and immediately began searching for a buyer for our Park Model, which God provided right away. But, we soon discovered that we would not have enough money to buy the house.

We went to visit Pete and Wanda once again to inform them we would be unable to buy their house. It was at that moment we joined hands with Pete and Wanda, standing in the living room and asked the Lord for His will to be done. We said our good-byes and got in our car to leave.  A thought came to me. I said to my wife, "Honey, I am not sure but I think we have an account,  but I am not sure if it's enough. So, when we got home I checked my portfolio and discovered that indeed we did have a mutual fund, which would be more than enough to allow us to buy the house we wanted. We thanked God for this blessing and informed Pete that we would be able to buy the house.  We are so blessed to have the home of our dreams and one completely dedicated to God.

WE ARE LIVING PROOF THAT GOD DOES ANSWER PRAYERS.





1 comment:

  1. FP,
    My heart smiled as I read this post about our "dates." I remember sitting across the table from you while you returned the call to your doctor. I couldn't read your face that morning, but you shared quickly his cancer diagnosis. I felt panic, and afraid. I remember asking you what you wanted to do. Without hesitation, you said, "I want to go back to Florida". We were blessed to find a clinic within a few miles of our Florida home. I will never listen to Mosie Lister's Ladies Sing Gospel without remembering those five weeks. God turned something bad (prostate cancer) into something good. God is good. And He continues to work in our lives. Even through Alzheimer's, He is still ever present.
    Great blog! Keep writing.
    KNP

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