The Prayer Stone
Bill carefully placed the prayer stone with my name written on it under the altar of his church.
“This is for you, Ray,” he whispered, “I pray that you will come to know Christ and give your life to him.”
The church was under construction, and the members decided to put prayer stones under the altar. Then they held a special service in which they prayed for the people whose names were on the stones.
Bill was my business associate and friend. We had often discussed politics, Christianity, and faith. I had been exposed to Christian teachings in my home as a child, but once I left home, I left Christ behind. Although I did not know it, Bill prayed for me every day. He had no idea how badly I would need those prayers.
Two years later, on June 2, 2005, I was doing what I enjoyed most, coaching my two daughters (ages seven and ten) in soccer and spending time with them. Early the next morning, I woke up with a severe ocular migraine in my right eye. I headed downstairs to get some painkillers, when I suddenly collapsed and tumbled the rest of the way down the stairs. My wife, Colleen, ran down to see what had happened.
“My eye! My eye!” I cried.
Colleen called 911, but I was unconscious before she got off the phone. By the time the ambulance arrived, I was no longer breathing. The paramedics resuscitated me twice because I had physically died for a few minutes.
I descended into blackness, and my human sensations started to disappear. I felt my spirit emerge. An unbelievable presence of love and peace overwhelmed me, like a mother’s love as she snuggles her child, as well as a fatherly presence of strength and security giving me the will to live.
“You must go back,” I was told. “It is not your time to die yet.”
This was the first of several miracles and answers to Bill’s prayers that changed the direction of my life.
My condition was an aneurysm on my right optic nerve. A massive vascular hemorrhage filled the right side of my brain with blood, causing a serious brain injury. While I was in a coma, the doctor said I would probably not live through the night. I was put on life support with no brain activity.
Colleen gathered my siblings for final farewells and decided to disconnect my life support and donate my organs. But a neurosurgeon on call arrived and convinced my family to let him perform a surgery.
The surgery worked! I remained in a coma for a week to let my brain heal. When I woke up from the coma, I could not speak, but immediately wrote about my supernatural experience while in the coma.
The magnitude of my injuries from the aneurysm overwhelmed me. At the age of forty-four, I had partial paralysis on my left side, significant visual loss in my right eye, memory loss, and serious cognitive impairment. Having been a project manager and operations manager, I was devastated to know I would never be able to work or drive again. My former life had been literally ripped out from under me!
Learning to do basic skills again, such as taking care of my hygiene, walking, talking, and eating with utensils was physically and mentally exhausting. A month and a half after my aneurysm, I was transferred to the rehabilitation ward and enrolled in speech and occupational therapy and physiotherapy. Feeling the tremendous impact these disabilities had on my life, I developed severe depression and anxiety.
One night, I woke up to see a small woman with dark skin at the foot of my bed. She exuded a loving motherly presence similar to what I’d experienced in my coma.
“Don’t worry. You’re going to be okay. You are loved,” she reassured me. “Be strong. Be brave. You will get better.”
I felt a deep sense of peace and fell back to sleep. The next morning, anxious to find out who that woman was, I stumbled to the nurses’ station to ask. They told me no one of that description worked there. I eventually understood that she was an angel sent by God.
With renewed determination, hope, and confidence, I worked vigorously in all areas of therapy and could soon walk with only a cane. By the end of September, my dream of being home with my family again seemed closer when I was granted weekend visits. I could not hold back my tears as my youngest daughter ran into my arms, crying, “Daddy’s home!”
The girls and I spent precious moments just hugging each other. I had missed them so much. I truly cherished my involvement in their lives—reading with them, cooking, swimming, taking them to dance lessons, and coaching their soccer teams.
Unfortunately, Colleen did not receive me the same way. She resented having to care for a disabled husband and did not think I could resume my role as father and husband. Her words and actions were hurtful and made me feel abandoned. To help me deal with this, my psychologist helped me find a church close to my home. The first day I attended, I was overjoyed to be warmly welcomed by friends whose daughter I’d coached in soccer.
Reading my Bible and being part of a loving, supportive congregation helped me to grow spiritually. Unfortunately, the situation with Colleen grew worse. I felt worthless after a difficult Christmas—my depression deepened and I felt suicidal. I couldn’t understand why God let me live after the aneurysm. I could not see a purpose for living.
On December 28, 2005, I prepared to end my life by jumping off a pedestrian overpass. Just before the fatal jump, my cell phone rang.
Through tears, I poured out my emotions to my friend.
“No, Ray! No! Can you go somewhere safe? Is there a motel near you?”
He talked me into checking into the nearest motel, at his expense, and promised he would meet me there in the morning. Upon checking in, I was even more surprised to see that the front desk clerk was a former business associate of mine. He eventually helped me find a townhouse to live in near my girls. God’s divine intervention saved my life for a second time.
When I moved into the townhouse, Colleen refused to let me have visitation rights, saying my daughters would be unsafe with me. I was very lonely without my girls. At an all-time low and unsure of my abilities and life as a disabled person, I cried out to God, “Lord, I give you my life! My former life is gone, even my family! You are my only hope! Please direct my life and please bring me the family that I need!”
My sister offered to visit every second weekend so my daughters could stay with me. Through the help of friends, I hired a lawyer. Eight months after I moved into the townhouse, the courts granted me visitation with my girls. The assessment stated that I was a better father than many fathers without brain injuries! This was a breakthrough for me and wonderful times began again with my girls.
As the girls grew older, I got less time with them. My oldest daughter pulled away when she was fifteen. My youngest daughter still wanted to come but also pulled away when she started ninth grade.
Heartbroken and lonely, I prayed again for a family. I tried dating through Internet sites, but brain-injured applicants are not well received. After a nine-month relationship went sour, I believed I would never be able to have a relationship with a woman and decided that God was all I needed.
But God had other plans. I started attending a men’s group at a different church and eventually started attending their Sunday evening services. Two months later, on October 21, 2012, I was taking Access taxi (a special transportation for disabled people) to the church and it stopped to pick up a woman, Rose, and her special-needs daughter, only a block from my house. We talked all the way to church and found ourselves looking at each other during the service. We talked more after church.
A few days later, I was reading the Bible in my living room. I glanced out my front window and saw Rose walking her dog in front of my house! I flew out the front door as best I could and surprised her with a hug. A few days later, Rose dropped a note in my mailbox, offering to help me rake my leaves. Unfortunately, her note slipped out and fell to the ground. Several days passed before I discovered it. I called her, and the romance bloomed from there.
Rose had been a single parent for many years. Raising a special-needs daughter, coupled with love for Christ, gave her a compassionate heart. Because she was coping with her daughter’s seizures and a major concussion, Rose understood my brain injury and disabilities. God clearly orchestrated our meeting, because Rose had recently moved to my area to be closer to her job, and I had just started attending her church.
Rose and I had a very romantic engagement six months after we met and were married six months later. Rose’s daughters openly embraced me, helping to ease the pain of losing my relationship with my own daughters.
God answered my prayer for a family. He provided me with a loving Christian wife, three fun-loving daughters, a son-in-law, and two adorable grandchildren—all who accept me as I am. I couldn’t be happier! We continue to pray for my daughters and know that one day they will return to us because God has been so faithful to answer our prayers!
The angel from the hospital room told me I would get better. Although I have made significant improvements physically, my emotional and spiritual growth has been enormous. I not only came to know Christ, but have been able to experience the strength He provides.
One Sunday, Rose and I were sitting in the cafeteria at church. My friend and former colleague Bill walked up to us.
He stared. “Ray, is that you? How long have you been coming here?” After hearing my story, tears trickled down his face.
“I have been praying for you for ten years! I placed a prayer stone with your name on it under the altar of this church! Praise God! He’s answered my prayers!”