Today I am 58 years old and learning so many valuable lessons. Through the years I lived hard and paid little attention to the important things in life. As a young man growing up, I had wonderful parents who raised me with a belief in God. As I grew older, I had so many questions that I did not have answers for and as a result, I developed my own idea of faith.
During those years I ventured down many a road filled with uncountable pitfalls that included scrapes with the law and I even spent a time in prison for drug smuggling. I was married three times, all of which failed for a variety of reasons. I was a success and failure in more than one business opportunity and always seemed to come up just short of my vision of success. In addition to my nonproductive life style, I developed some terrible habits common to many of us. I was a heavy smoker and I abused my body on occasion with too much to drink. I made a habit of eating the wrong foods resulting in being very overweight.
To no surprise, as I got older I developed a multitude of health problems with the most serious being heart disease. In my earlier fifties I began getting artery blockages which resulted in ten angioplasties and 20 stints over the next several years. At 57 I had my first major heart attack. Now here I am at age 57 and guess what? I am still smoking and eating like there was no tomorrow. I was 70 lbs overweight and heading for disaster. One year later at age 58 it happened, I suffered another major heart attack but this time I actually was lifeless for a short period of time before being brought back to life through electric shock from paddles that we have all seen on television. I briefly saw my dad who had long passed away. There he was carrying his favorite fishing rod with my first dog at his side. It was at that moment that I realized there was so much more to living.
I yearned to have the opportunity to spend as much time with my children and grandchildren as I possibly could. Although they were already much better individuals than I was at their age, I wanted to tell them all the story of the pitfalls I incurred in my life. Not only did I want to help them avoid those mistakes, I also wanted them to understand how important love and family are. I wanted to squeeze every moment out of life in order to make that happen.
As I was waiting for my open heart surgery, I had the opportunity to reflect on my past. My son-in-law, a minister, encouraged me to reach out to God and ask for forgiveness for my sins. I initially resisted, but on further thought and conversation I realized it was time to turn my life over to a higher power. There are no words that can actually express the sense of peace that comes into ones heart when they accept Jesus Christ as their savior.
I prayed for my family and friends. I asked for forgiveness for letting them down in so many ways. Whatever God chose to be my fate, I trusted in him. After hours in the dark of my hospital room I made the decision to telephone everyone the next day and let them know how much I loved them and if I had caused them any harm to forgive me. I assured my family that I had made peace with God. Whatever the outcome of my surgery, I let them know how grateful I was to God in allowing me the opportunity to say goodbye and to rely on my renewed faith.
During my recovery from my last near fatal heart attack, I had more opportunity to examine my past but more importantly my future. Why was I so fortunate to survive? What was I going to do with my life? I prayed to God for guidance and asked for the wisdom to make Christian choices. Slowly I began to recover and became mobile. My son-in-law gave me a Bible which I began to read on a regular basis. On a particular Sunday I woke up and decided to attend church which I had not done in many years. I chose a small church in a small town near my home in Indiana and just walked in. I felt the presence of the Lord and knew then that I had a calling.
In going home that day, I made a commitment to improve my life style. I decided I would never smoke again and would begin to commit to physical conditioning and proper diet. I realized at that moment that God had given me a great gift of new life and that abusing that opportunity would be a great sin. I also realized that through the years I had taken for granted all of the blessings that God had bestowed on me.
I was blessed with wonderful children who are better Christians than I could ever hope to be. I had a supportive family that only a fortunate few experience. The Lord gave me wonderful friends who helped me through the years one way or another. Of course, it took a near fatal heart for me to clearly see how God had been with me in thick and thin. It is said that “God loves a Sinner” and I am quite certain I did not disappoint him.
Over the next several months I kept searching and praying to find my calling in life. After several months of an improved diet and weight loss, I began to experience renewed health. The consequences of quitting smoking and daily exercise gave me a renewed energy that I had not felt in years. It started to become very clear that God was sending me a message that the healthy body he blessed me with at birth was a priceless gift. It was the physical Temple that housed my soul. Not a day goes by that I do not ask for forgiveness for taking the wonderful gift that God gave me for granted.
I am sure I will have many missions in life but I am certain that the relating of my story should be told in order that others may benefit.
Larry Stone