Singapore is a country very much like the United States, with every known religion and belief you can think of; yet I was born into a Buddhist (Taoist) family. I grew up going to temples, worshipping idols, burning paper incense, offering food and praying to idols as gods.

People often say, “All things in time.” However, perhaps it’s more accurate to say, “All things according to HIS timing.”

I was born in 1970s Korea—a country that, was closer to its rural agricultural roots than to the glistening technological hub it is known as today. My birth mother was a young, single woman at a time when pregnancy out of wedlock was not allowed. In fact, such a pregnancy risked shaming not only the woman herself but her entire family.

In the spring of 2011 I was diagnosed with cancer which was first believed to be lung cancer. Fortunately it was later determined to be lymphoma. This certainly was a more hopeful diagnosis although it was Stage 4 because it had metastasized and spread to other parts of my body. Undaunted the wonderful staff at UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center began the prescribed chemotherapy treatments. Although I was hopeful grave doubts consumed me. I prayed like never before and asked God to heal me. At the same time my prayer was also surrendering my will to God believing that whatever the outcome, it was His Will not mine and I trusted God completely.

This is one of my all-time favorite stories. God is so awesome and He hears our prayers.

First, a little background… When I’m REALLY upset or depressed, I go through a fast food drive-through, get a chocolate shake and drive over to the cemetery, any cemetery, they’re all the same. (A little trick taught to me by my mom).

My name is Gary and I’m a recovering drug addict. My addiction to drugs started at age twelve in 1972 and my battle with drugs still rages inside me today.

My story will consist of 3 parts. First will be the introduction.

I first experienced God’s presence in my life in 1973 when I received the body of Christ.  I was askinny eight year old with hair that refused order and preferred hanging in unkempt strands. My FirstCommunion dress was delicately and lovingly made by my proud mother; it was simple yet pretty, but lacked the sequence and glamour that surrounded me.  I was not a sequence and glamour girl.  I would have preferred to arm wrestle, dress and all, “those” girls or better yet, their older brothers!

Last year I met a long time patient from out of town and soon realized it would not be a typical meeting. I sensed something was unusually wrong when she soon said she had some shattering news to share.

I believe that God has been sending me messages for many years. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wise enough to understand what He was trying to tell me. You see, I am a professional engineer who always thought about life in black and white … without any shades of gray. My career required me to focus all of my attention on things that were wrong and in need of a solution. I was supposed to have the answers to solve all problems, no matter what they were.

As many of my friends and family know, I have been blessed with many remarkably coincidental as well as physical “signs from heaven” in my lifetime.  God has revealed himself to people throughout time. We learn from instances that happened years ago in Biblical times so why would we think God would not show His much needed presence in today’s world? This is my own personal miracle that has previously only been shared with family and several close friends. It has taken many years for me to reveal this for fear of what people would think but after years of prodding, I am finally going to do it. This is probably one my most profound experiences of them all…

I have had many mystical experiences in my life and believe God wants them to be shared. As a lifelong Christian, but certainly one thatwould never outwardly express my common and ordinary faith, I am now compelled to share the most profound experience in my life. This Lenten season seems the appropriate time to share.

God healed my celiac disease!

For the past five years, I could not even eat a crumb of bread without setting off a long string of physical issues. Any gluten ingested would start to make my left arm go numb and then in the next day or two it would cause severe stomach pain, diarrhea, urinary tract infection, weakness in the limbs, eczema, itchy blisters on my hands, heart palpitations, insomnia and flu like symptoms that would last up to two weeks. Therefore to me, gluten = poison. For the last five years of my life, I have avoided it at all cost. That is until two months ago.