An Appointment with God
One Ordinary Man's Journey to Faith Through Prayer

By Jack B. Strandburg

I found a closer relationship with God to give me great peace and someone to turn to whenever I need help in my life. Whether I am sad, anxious, lost, afraid, or depressed, I have found God to be at my side when I need Him. I wasn't always that close or dependent on God, and the journey to arrive to where I am today was a hard and long one, filled with highs and lows. My account is a document of that journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Dec 2, 2002
• ISBN: 9781412250306

Jack B. Strandburg

I am a Computer Information Systems Business Consultant for a Fortune 500 company. I am married with two children, ages 21 (female) and 19 (male). I have had a desire to be published since the early 1990's. I have worked on short and long fiction, completed one book project (as yet unpublished), and found that the current project, An Appointment With God was something that HAD to be written based on a life changing religious experience.

Book preview

An Appointment With God 

 One Ordinary Man’s Journey to 

 Faith through Prayer

© 2002 by Jack B. Strandburg. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Strandburg, Jack B., 1952-

      An appointment with God : one ordinary man’s journey to faith throughprayer / Jack B. Strandburg.

ISBN 1-55395-032-1

ISBN 978-1-4122-5030-6 (ebook)

      I. Title.

BV210.3.S78 2002   248.3’2   C2002-904108-2

Image311.JPG

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Contents

Dedications

Introduction

Background

The Fall

The Call

Going Forward

Spreading the Word

Looking Back (and Ahead)

Dedications

I dedicate this book to my wife Kathy, my daughter Jackie, my son Bryan, and to my good friend Jesse, for their support, prayers, encouragement, and advice.

Acknowledgements

I want to thank the following for their prayers, advice, consultation, support, and sharing in the writing of this book.

Mom and Mary

Linda E.

Mary and Martin T.

Dr. Joe A.

Maria and Michael D.

Fr. John

Fr. Drew

Fr. Chacko

Cynthia G.

Steve H.

Jay and Karen G.

Mary H.

Charlie B.

Glenn H.

Introduction

This is a true story about a life-changing religious experience. This is my story. It is a story of my journey in developing a closer relationship with God, a journey that began in early August 2001, and continues today. I know that this relationship will keep growing as long as I have faith and trust in God and hold God as the number one priority in my life. It is a story of how I came to understand and know the power of prayer, what it did for my faith, and how it rescued me from a troubled time in my life, a brief but unforgettable bout with depression.

My situation was by no means serious. You might even say it was mild, hardly worth a second thought. I did not lose a member of the family. My house didn’t burn down. I didn’t lose any personal possessions. Nobody in my family became sick nor was diagnosed with a disease.

My wife Kathy and I are blessed with two wonderful children, and my family is all in good health. Kathy and I have rewarding and stable jobs that allow us material things, which now, for me, don’t hold the same importance as they once did.

In reading this, one might wonder why I would have any reason to be depressed, and I’ve had the same thought many times. So many have lost so much more than I have, but I also realize that no two people will react alike to the same situation, and the situation was real to me.

I believe the depression came on because God wanted to get my attention. It was a wake-up call to come to know God’s love, grace, and compassion. What it all boils down to is that the depression was really not the key issue. The key issue was what God gave me as a means to bring me closer to him and to develop a life-long relationship with him.

I can’t really say that the religious experience saved my life, although early on in mydepression, it certainly felt that way.

* * *

I don’t know what will become of this book. There is a good chance that it will be no more than a file on a floppy disk or a pile of white paper that gets passed among family, friends, and fellow parishioners.

My intention in writing this book is not to preach, to teach, or to advise. I bring no credentials to the table. I am not a priest, a minister, a deacon, or a theologian. I hold no degree in religious studies. I am not a religious scholar, nor an expert in the studies of Christianity or Catholicism. I don’t even consider myself a well-informed