Hope in Jesus
A self-described “spiritual bystander,” Ted had always believed that God existed but that he “wasn’t currently around.” But the difficult circumstances of raising a daughter, Emily, born with an enlarged and failing heart – a condition for which she received two heart transplants and endured multiple post-transplant hospitalizations – eventually brought Ted face-to-face with a God who was “more than something I was reading about in a book.”
At the invitation of his second daughter Hannah, who was involved with Journey Students, Ted reluctantly agreed to attend a service where he hoped to casually observe the proceedings and stay under the radar. As his distracted mind turned from the events of the service to his passion for “all things politics,” Ted experienced a poignant moment in which “…God became real to me.” Suddenly confronted by a new awareness that he could not continue his efforts to take on life’s challenges – like the critical heart condition of his daughter Emily – without God, Ted accepted the invitation to experience a new life through faith in Jesus Christ.
A short time later, at age 19, Emily died. Shaken by her death but grateful for the “blessing of her life on earth”, Ted tells of how his new relationship with Jesus and the spiritual strength found only in God has enabled him and his family to grieve Emily’s passing yet given them a hope for the future.