Faith in Acadia

By Leslie-Anne Davidson

This book is a collection of true Christian testimonies from Acadians and from the people who live in Acadia. A wide variety of life experiences are shared: simple, sad, funny, or intriguing. The series of short stories demonstrate the positive changes brought about and/or report the lessons learned. They may make you think, laugh, cry or help to understand that you are not alone. It is hoped that these testimonies will contribute to the deepening of your faith.

When the author started gathering these stories of faith, over fifteen years ago, she did it simply because she enjoyed reading them. However, she later joined a Christian woman's group and became aware of the importance of belonging to a community and working together on projects that help to make our world a better place to live. Proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to Christian faith education.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 24, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669851622

Book preview

Copyright © 2022 by L.-A. Davidson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Cover Credit:

Patsy Cormier

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/patsy-cormier

Rev. date: 01/24/2023

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

847732

Contents

Acadia

Dedication

Forward

Acknowledgment

Guided by Faith

I Have Great Faith

Have Confidence!

God Directs

Power of Prayer

Nanny’s Faith

It Still Stirs Up Emotions!

Year of Faith

Life’s Occurrence

The Miracle of Life – Sara’s Arrival Time

Privileged Vision

A Huge Cry to Jesus From a Dad for His Daughter

The Coal Cart

Meet Your Match

Tame Me, Like a Little Bird!

I Still Have the Photo

Healings

I Don’t Understand

Here I Am!

To Recuperate

No Cancer

Living Experiences

No More Evidence of Lumps

Dad Asked one of my Sisters to Press his Pants

My Healing, As Seen Through My Eyes

Passage

47993.png Little Boy

Praises to Our Mother

My Beloved Father

Joseph’s Resurrection

For Me, She’s a Saint!

I’m Not Afraid of Dying

Saints’ Intercessions

Honeymoon and Car Trouble

All Is Clear!

Miraculous Gift

Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Carpenters

Thank you, Saint Gerard Majella!

Lost Something?

A Simple Prayer to Saint Joseph

Connected

Today, Go Visit your Father

Thank you, Papa

It Consoled Me

It Fell from Heaven

The Lord’s Solution

Charismatic

Today, I See Life Differently

Georgette’s Testimony of Faith

I’m Looking for Someone to Sing

Only by the Grace of God

Little by Little

Medjugorje

Accompanied and Reminded

Changed Life!

Heart Attack!

Act When Called Upon

Awakening of Faith

I Must Pinch Myself Daily

Why Was I So Happy Before?

My Faith in Jesus

God is There Even if We Put Him Aside!

The Lost and Found Child

I Made Him a Promise.

Perseverance

A True Gift from Heaven

May Prayer Become for you this Magic Potion!

Give, Don’t Be Afraid

In God’s Hands

A New Heart for Christmas 2011

My Faith

Acadia

According to Wikipedia, Acadia was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula in Canada and to the Kennebec River in the State of Maine, USA. The term Acadia today refers to regions of North America that are historically associated with the lands, descendants, or culture of the former region. It particularly refers to regions of the Maritimes with Acadian roots, language, and culture, primarily in New Brunswick (N.B.), Nova Scotia (N.S.), the Magdalen Islands, and Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.), in Canada as well as in Maine, USA. It can also refer to the Acadian diaspora in southern Louisiana, a region also referred to as Acadiana. In the abstract, Acadia refers to the existence of an Acadian culture in any of these regions. People living in Acadia are called Acadians which changed to Cajuns in Louisiana, the American pronunciation of Acadians, even though most Cajuns are not descendants of Acadians but French-Americans who lived in southern Louisiana in the US, a region which became known there as Acadiana in the latter part of the 20th century.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the late Father Maurice Légère. He became involved in this project when I shared with him my idea of collecting and publishing Christian testimonies from Acadians and the people who presently live in Acadia. Unfortunately, Father Maurice Légère passed away on January 30, 2009. I persevered slowly, hoping to complete the project so these shared testimonies could reach a large number of people.

Leslie-Anne Davidson

Forward

A sincere faith testimony is like a lighthouse, a lofty tower with a powerful focus of light, guiding ships to port. Many lighthouses are part of Acadian heritage, and artists have depicted truly beautiful ones along the coast.

That the Acadian ancestors survived the innumerable difficulties they encountered is thanks to their faith in God who served as their beacon. Their example has been passed down through generations as a model to many who, in turn, have generously agreed to share their testimony in this book.

The author, Leslie-Anne Davidson, felt a calling to compile these stories of the many people who were willing to share their faith experiences. In time, she was able to collect sixty testimonies, revealing the life of faith and deep convictions that served to guide these people during important events in their life. Some report having been healed physically or morally during prayer gatherings or pilgrimages; others turned to the saints they trusted to intercede for them, asking God to answer their request, which He did. Some accounts are about awakening faith, and ways of persevering without losing hope.

By successively reading these testimonies, the reader will be touched by the honesty and the simplicity and will spontaneously have the tendency to admit that God does exist and He hears the request of those who cry out to Him. Indeed, the women and men who shared their testimony all say that at some point in their lives, God intervened to take care of their suffering and brought them peace and joy.

Currently, many people are seeking values that would give more meaning to their lives. A careful reading of these many moving stories by people openly revealing themselves can only strengthen one’s desire to trust God in difficult times. My hope is that this book will have wide distribution and will touch the hearts of many.

Congratulations to Leslie-Anne Davidson for the courage and perseverance she has shown in compiling these touching accounts.

Sister Auréa Cormier, n.d.s.c.

Acknowledgment

I sincerely thank all the contributors who have permitted me to share their testimonies of Christian faith to be published in this book so events in their spiritual journey can be safeguarded in the collective memory, that is to say, that they are not forgotten. Their testimonies are written in the first person because the stories are recounted in the same manner as they were shared with me. Some stories may appear libellous or very private, so to respect the confidentiality of all contributors, the names of the contributors are not indicated at the end of their stories; nonetheless, all stories are true.

Fictitious names were used except in the testimonies that have been extracted from previously published sources: books, newspapers or testimonies given to an audience.

The Scripture references were taken from: Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition.1993. Catholic Bible Press, Nashville Tennessee

Guided by Faith

I Have Great Faith

But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture — I believed, and so I spoke—we also believe, and so we speak, 2 Corinthians 4:13

Ever since I was young, I have been blessed with the gift of faith. In 1982, I was the first woman to read the epistle in church and to distribute the holy Communion. I have volunteered for these services for several years, and I never missed Sunday mass.

Sadly, in 1996, I lost my husband to cancer but was blessed to be able to take care of him at home for the last two years of his life. Happily, I remarried a very good man from Saint-Charles, N.B. My second husband was a man of great faith. We prayed together and we recited the Rosary morning and evening. On November 4, 2006, I, unfortunately, lost my second husband. He returned to God peacefully. Nonetheless, I was in great pain and prayed that I could regain my courage. In prayer, I would speak to my dear husband and I would ask him to help me because I couldn’t stop crying. I felt relief. I wish he was still with me, but I can continue to function and I have accepted his departure.

Today, I am 88 years old and I still have great faith!

Have Confidence!

Note: This testimony was extracted from the book entitled South Damascus. (page 99) with permission from the author.

Gagné, G. 2013. South Damacus. Acadie. Presse Ltd. Irishtown (New Brunswick) Canada. 444p.

And he (Jesus) said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear; the measure you give will be the measure you get, and still more will be given you. Mark 4:24

It was in the year 1993 when my wife and I were organizing a missionary trip to Brazil with seven young people. We needed $25,000 to pay for nine plane tickets to support two projects for the poor in Sao Paulo. We merely had $5,000, and we were already only four months away from our departure date. We were discouraged and we were talking about cancelling the project.

At that time, the Mass at our church, Christ-Roi, in Moncton, N.B. was televised at six in the evening. Half discouraged, I sat down in my large chair to listen to the Mass being celebrated by Father Johnson. When the priest started the Mass by saying, Have confidence! I jumped out of my chair and said to my wife, Sheila, we’re going to Brazil! Without delay, we got down to work and organized many fundraisers, for example, bottle drives, dinners at the Irishtown Community Center, etc. Today my wife and I have a foundation to help the poor and we have often travelled to Brazil to help street children.

I never doubted the priest’s words, Have confidence! were addressed to us. We have never looked back. Twenty years later, these words remained engraved in our hearts.

God Directs

The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps. Proverbs 16:9

In 2015, my husband, our two sons, and I embarked on a trip to Nicaragua. We were part of a team going to build houses in a small indigenous fishing community. While there, a few of us were fortunate enough to visit one of the local elementary schools. We quickly noticed the sad conditions of the school. Those sweet young children were trying to learn amidst falling plaster and broken chairs and tables with peeling paint. Upon discussions with members of our build team regarding the dismal condition of the school, we were introduced to Lantern Projects (https://lanternprojects.org/), an organization that raises funds for small projects around the world. After returning home to Riverview, N.B., with Lantern Projects in mind, I contacted all members of our build team to suggest helping the children of the school we had visited. In addition, I reached out to all my social media contacts to raise awareness of the conditions in the small school and the fundraising began.

Helping these children seemed like the perfect way to show our gratitude for our amazing, God-filled trip to Nicaragua. I prayed to God for ideas and, if this is part of His plan, for options on how to do this properly. Part of my own plan was for my family to start off the fundraising with a strong donation.

Soon after, my husband and I sat together trying to agree on the amount of money to donate, but the consensus seemed elusive. A little frustrated, I finally said, What if I can raise money using Kijiji by selling a couple of things around the house that we no longer use? That way, whatever I raise is what we’ll give. He agreed. I smiled because, in my prayers, I also asked God to help us be able to donate $400. Now I was excited to see how God would have this play out!

Without delay, I left our conversation and grabbed my laptop. I quickly posted two articles on Kijiji. The first was a basketball net/stand that our boys no longer used, and the second was an old Apple laptop with a broken screen. I had no idea if I would be able to sell them or how much to ask for either of them. Less than five minutes after posting the basketball ad, I received a response. I had asked more for it than I ever thought I’d get and the buyer did not try to bargain or offer less. Sold for $150! While I was answering questions from that first buyer, I received an offer on the broken laptop. That buyer offered less than I was asking but I knew that God was running this show and so my plan was to accept. Everything was happening so fast. I was still emailing back and forth with the basketball stand/net customer, so I didn’t get a chance to answer the laptop buyer right away. While I was replying to the first buyer, the buyer who was interested in the laptop wrote again, saying that he’d thought about it and would give me the full price for the old laptop. Sold for $250! I have bought and sold many items on Kijiji, but never had anyone offer an amount and then increase it without being asked. Only God could do that and both articles together totalled $400 exactly!

In just under 10 minutes, our $400 donation was raised for the Nicaraguan children! My husband was happy as both articles had been sitting around the house for months