In October 2002 I was born again. My husband Doog however was still very much lost. No matter what I said to him he seemed to have no desire to seek God. So I went to church with his parents and we prayed for his redemption.We prayed all the time and still Doog’s heart was cold. I got baptized and tried to live with one foot in the world and one in the body. After many years I began to give up hope, but not my father in law Doug. He continued to pray in earnest for Doog. He and my mom in law never stopped praying for him. My son confessed Christ his savior. Doog went to his baptism in 2005 still no sign that he would ever believe. He would say God was a crutch and other things that hurt our hearts so badly as we wanted him to come to the Lord.

My father in law had Hepatitis C. They think He got it from sharing a needle around age 19. He was born again in 1976. After some 30 years with the disease he was unable to keep up with his window cleaning business himself. It was then in 2006 that my husband Doog left the heating and air business and went to work with dad. More hope but “no way”.

On March 2nd dad went into the hospital with double pneumonia. Against his wishes mom put him on life support. Little did we know God had a plan. Doog was at the hospital day and night. On the 5th he told me if he thought for one moment God would heal his dad he would believe. I reminded him that you can’t go to God with conditions, I told him you have to go to God and give Him everything and trust Him to do what He wills not what we want. On March 6th we were on our way home from the hospital. He was showering and heading back. I told him in the car that if he had just the faith of a mustard seed that Christ would give him comefort and grow that seed for him. His reply was a very matter of fact “no way”. But I saw a crack in his heart for the first time.

After he left I went to my room and prayed for dad, for Doog, for mercy and for grace. As I cried out, I felt my comforter lift me up. It was then that I knew I had to call Scott our pastor and ask him to pray with Doog. When I called Scott at the hospital Doog was not back yet. Scott was first confused, then blown away. You see he had prayed for Doog with us many times over these years. “Scott you have to ask Doog to pray!” I told him. He replied “Okay if you say so.” I knew God put it on my heart. When Doog got back to the hospital before our pastor got to him, another family friend also named Scott asked Doog to pray and he did! So on March 6th my “headless husband” was born again. Not just born again, he received a HUGE PORTION OF FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST! He told pastor Scott “Kristy is never going to believe this and Scott replied “Yes she will. She called and told me you were ready before you got back!” Doog was on fire now and prayed earnestly for his father to be healed.

On March 9th he came home for the night and asked me why he felt like he should wash his dad’s feet. I showed him where the woman had washed Christ’s feet with her tears, where Christ had washed the disciples feet and lastly where Mary of Bethany had washed Christ’s feet to prepare him for burial. It was then we knew dad was not going to survive this illness. Did my husband lose faith? NO! He washed his fathers feet over and over again for several days. He and his brother put out a fleece for two days asking God what to do. When dad did not improve we knew to take him off the life support. We knew it was all in God’s hands. So on the 12th of March we took him off the machines. Mom, all 7 children, the spouses and many of our children along with several friends sat with him. We prayed, we sang and we waited. Around 5:00 PM he stopped breathing. Most of us left the room, but mom lay herself across him like Elijah and the widow’s son and my Doog stood at the end of that bed lifted his hands to God and thanked him for healing dad. He had a new body no more pain. We will always miss him but we know where he is and one day we will spend eternity with him in the New Jerusalem.

Doog has grown so fast. He prayed and asked what we should do with all our ungodly music, movies etc. and found a post-it note in dad’s bible with Acts 19:19 wrote on it in dad’s hand. Even in a coma, he was giving counsel! So we burned all of it and tallied over $10,000. Doog wanted to get all his back taxes in order. Guess how much we got back? That’s right, almost $10,000. My God, how He works in mysterious ways!

Finally my house is whole. I am no longer married to the “headless husband” as I lovingly used to call him. And praise the Lord “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”

Dad’s funeral was huge! Many residents close to the cemetery where we had a grave side service said it was the largest they had ever seen. We had a celebration of life ceremony at the church and heard testimony after testimony about how dad had touched people. Some even said he changed their lives with his faith and counsel. He had always felt a call to preach but could never overcome his fear of public speaking. Dad lived a life of faith. He didn’t just talk about faith he walked in it every moment of every day. He preached the gospel through his life, never having to get behind a pulpit to preach. He never got to see his prayer answered for his eldest son, but we know he knows and that is all that matters.

On Easter Sunday my husband was baptized. In 42 degrees he went into that water with Scott and was baptized. Just like dad’s funeral there was a huge crowd of different faiths. There were messianics, baptists, and protestants all united to see a prayer they had all prayed answered.

Only God knows what is next for Doog. But I know one thing it will be a walk of faith as he truly is his father’s son in more ways then one. When we wait for family to find God and the time to us is long, we must remember that it is only a moment to our loving and faithful God. We may grow weary but he gives us strength. Who can say what God’s mind is? Not us but if we stand fast and believe we can do all things through our Lord Christ Jesus. Thank God for everything and know that He remains faithful even when we do not.