Promises Kept

By Mike Gould

An ordinary man living an ordinarily dysfunctional life, stumbling through every day events, is confronted with a near-death event and a resulting miracle wish which is granted by God. That wish came with a promise though and a chance to help others through his heavenly gift. How this story comes about, evolves into success in love and in life, and all of the humorous adventures in between are something you ll remember and treasure for years to come. The best part... it s all true! The majority of this story takes place in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina. It quickly transports the reader through 36 years of a less than normal life then settles in for the next 12 years, which become increasingly fantastic through a chain of events, all due to keeping the promise , and God s blessings for doing so. The author is an avid outdoorsman, photographer and explorer, which brings a lot of greenery to the book and describes many of the little known natural wonders located in upstate SC. It evolves into something so much more though when all of the elements culminate into a very unexpected climax. This is a funny, smart, thought-provoking book that answers many questions that begin with; What would you do if? It is probably unlike anything you ve ever read, but is definitely a book that you ll read over and over again, and will want to share with friends and family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ambassador International
• Release date: Oct 25, 2013
• ISBN: 9781620201749

Mike Gould

Mike Gould is a former Head of English and an experienced author who has written over 150 books and other resources for teachers and students, including GCSE and IGCSE textbooks and digital support material. He has also been a Senior Lecturer in English and Education, teaching the history of the English language, creative writing and how to apply new technologies to the English classroom.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Preface

Introduction

Working It Out

Memories Of Anna

The Camera

Ascending a Mountain Sized Past

Tragedy Becomes A Miracle

God Blesses and Reveals

Lori, Love Personified

Living The Dream

The Incredible Find

Promises Kept

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© 2012 by Mike Gould

All rights reserved

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Printed in the United States of America

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ISBN: 9781935507857

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Cover Art by Larry Frost

Cover Design by Matthew Mulder

Page Layout by Cara A. Harris

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INKSWIFT

427 Wade Hampton Blvd.

Greenville, SC 29609, USA

www.ambassador-international.com

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The colophon is a trademark of Inkswift

I wrote this book for all of you that believe in God and in his infinite grace and mercy, and as an inspiration for all that do not know him yet.

I am dedicating the book to my beautiful, loving wife Lori. She has to put up with me daily/hourly/minutely, and without her constant inspiration it would not have been possible.

Thank you Lori, I love you more!

—Mike

My wife Lori relaxing at Saluda Lake, Pickens, S.C. Where we bought our first home together.

A special thanks to my step-father, Larry Frost, for creating the fantastic cover art for my book, and caring for and loving my mother for so many years throughout her illness, and her health. I will never forget the prayer you gave at her passing. Thanks again for everything,

—Mike

Preface

IT’S COMMONLY BELIEVED THAT EVERYTHING happens for a reason. Many people make that remark on a regular basis. It is also widely believed that we will all eventually pay for the things that we do and the things that we don’t do. Even those who choose not to believe in God can be heard stating that what goes around comes around, as if there were some kind of equalizing entity or force that makes things right again. They say these things yet still deny that God exists.

I know that God exists and that he is that supernatural force that the nonbelievers speak of. I came to know this, not because of family beliefs or due to the preaching of evangelists and other ministers of faith, but because of my own personal experiences. The Holy Bible states that once people become saved or born again through Jesus Christ that they become different, a new creature. I believe this as well, again through my own experiences. I also believe that we are given free will and that our lives are molded by the choices that we make. Or, as a wise man once said, We make our decisions, and then our decisions make us.

Whether you believe in God, evolution, the big bang theory, or that we were placed here by aliens from another planet, what we do, the good and the bad, does have an impact on everything past, present, and future. Our lives are filled with positives and negatives; we revolve around them. It’s how we react or deal with them that directs where we go from there. Recognizing these frequent occurrences or happenstances for what they really are, then acting on them appropriately, is the key to living a fulfilling life and understanding our purpose here on Earth. Furthermore, our actions not only have an effect on our lives but on those around us as well. Our daily decisions can impact our spouses, parents, children, cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, enemies, etc.

However, this statement in itself is fairly deep, and we live in a very superficial world, a world of fast food, quick stops, and instant gratification. We are training ourselves not to think anymore but to simply do what suits our needs for this moment, regardless of the consequences. Seeing through to the details has become increasingly difficult. We are living in a time where the once bolded lines of morality and truth are no longer so easily distinguishable for many people. The gray areas have outgrown the black and white, and distracting forces are abundant. Technology does the decision-making for many people now, and what I am speaking of takes spiritual focus.

This ability is in all of us. It is not found by listening to your heart, which is so easily steered by emotion. Nor is it found by searching the depths of your brain. It’s nothing nearly that difficult. It’s accomplished by simply opening your eyes to the daily events in your life. Those events have been perfectly placed there by God, for a reason.

There are people who believe only in coincidence and science and that all things can be determined through calculations. Therefore I pose to you this calculus riddle.

Three men eat together at a restaurant, and the bill totals thirty dollars. Great, the men said, we can each pay ten dollars, which will cover the bill equally. They pay the server, who then returns to the register and finds that he has overcharged the men by five dollars. Not wanting to disrupt the order of things, the server decides to repay each man one dollar, which would bring their total contribution to nine dollars each. Repaying the three men one dollar each leaves two dollars remaining, and the server stuffs that in his pocket. Here’s the problem: 9 x 3 = 27 + 2 = 29. So what happened to the other dollar? Surprise, surprise, our mathematical system is flawed. The old saying that numbers don’t lie is not exactly correct. Sometimes numbers do lie. And since science and the entire world of theories rely on calculus, natural elements, and forces of nature, they too are flawed. Shocking, isn’t it…

There is only one truth, and that is God.

We are blessed with a multitude of opportunities to have a positive impact on the lives of our family members, friends, and those whom we will only encounter briefly. We have an even greater chance to do the same for ourselves. God has promised to rain blessings down on us when we do follow his Word and help each other. Proverbs 28:20 tells us that a faithful man shall abound with blessings: But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Yet, many people will perpetually struggle through life, tripping over the same hurdles, stepping in the same potholes over and over again, refusing to learn from their previous mistakes, and playing the blame game because it is so much easier to simply blame others for their current predicament rather than accept any responsibility for it.

Those people will stumble through life blindly, clinging to the edge of the treacherous world that they have created for themselves as their weakening foundation eventually crumbles and falls away. While all along, waiting in plain view, is the bridge to a better life, a life overflowing with peace, contentment, and purpose, a quality of life that they will never know.

Due to the chance of the truth being misunderstood, hard to see, or lost, and at the risk of calling a few people out and potentially offending them, I am going to be specific. I’d much rather take a chance on ticking someone off than miss the opportunity to possibly change someone’s life. I hope you appreciate that. There’s no room for ambiguity in this story.

No matter what your faith, I hope that you learn something from the message included within the following pages and that it will encourage you to pay more attention to the wonderful gifts that present themselves to us constantly. These are opportunities to enhance your life and the lives of those around you. It is the present. And always remember that having a relationship with God is not about being perfect–nothing in this world is perfect. He already knows that. It’s about forgiveness and loving each other without judgment, despite our many differences and imperfections. That is his desire for us all.

Introduction

THE FOLLOWING STORY IS NOT merely based on true events; it is one hundred percent true. Only some of the names have been changed to protect their identities. This book documents the incredible past twelve years of my life and the events that helped me to evolve into the Christian that I am today. I want to share my story with the hope that it may help others better understand occurrences in their lives or reaffirm the beliefs of those who already know where I’m going with this enlightening and entertaining read.

It’s entertaining because God has blessed me with a life of very few dull moments and a wide range of challenges. He’s been trying to teach me things that I needed to know, and unfortunately, I’m a slow learner. God was always there, though, patiently showing me the way to not only help myself but others as well.

In order to begin this story, I need to brief you on the first thirty-six years of my life. I’m going to do it over the course of only a few short pages because I want the focus to be on the last twelve years, not the first thirty-six. It won’t be easy to do, but here we go.

I was born in the small town of Versailles, Kentucky, in 1961. Versailles is located about ten miles from Lexington. The population was about 3,500 back then. The downtown area hasn’t changed much over the last fifty years, but that’s probably what I like most about it. With many nearby creeks to splash around in, large green open pastures, and lots of beautiful horses, it was a great place to grow up.

Ours was a middle-class, blue collar family. We attended church but didn’t practice Christianity much otherwise. I’m a middle child with one older brother and one younger sister (our siblings grew in number a few years later). My father owned two service stations and a few other small businesses. My brother and I worked at just about all of them as well as being literally farmed out to other family members when it was time to cut tobacco or bring in the hay. We had to work hard from very early on in our lives, but so did our friends and cousins. We thought that was just the way it was supposed to be and didn’t complain about it. It’s not like we had a choice about it, anyway. My father was very strict, and complaining only made things worse. He’d had to work hard throughout his life as well and was simply passing on that tradition to us.

We lived in a modest home, and time spent there was nothing exceptional. We had a large yard and lots of friends, so we were outside a lot. Things were very different back then. Kids could leave the house in the morning and stay gone for most of the day without parents worrying about them. If we got hungry and wanted a snack before lunch or dinner, we’d pull something from the garden, knock the dirt off, and eat it. Our toy collection consisted mainly of tiny green plastic army men that we would get very creative with on a regular basis. Forts and battlefields were quickly constructed with sticks and leaves, and wars occurred in our yard daily.

Wars were occurring inside our house as well. It seemed like my parents fought constantly. They divorced when I was seven, and both almost