When God Came My Way

By Dave Zimmerman

The origin of this book covers my personal experiences that would alter my life. Kind of before and after scenario.

A few months after my thirtieth birthday, a busy day of sales calls, I arrived home, exhausted. Well, maybe exhausted would not be good way to describe what I felt. I felt strangely uneasy and fell at ease. Just plain uncomfortable would be the description of my mood that evening. Nothing special had happened at work. It was just strange feeling that came over me.

I wasn’t much different the next morning. I still felt out of sorts. I remember saying to myself, “What the heck is going on?”

I ate a quick breakfast, got in the car, and started driving to my office. Almost without thinking or paying attention to where I was going, I found myself in the parking lot of the local Catholic church nearby our house. For some strange reason, I felt it was a stop I needed to make.

Mass had just ended, so the church was empty, except for a couple of altar boys cleaning up around the altar.

Before I realized it, I was in the back pew, on my knees. Over the next several minutes, I poured out my heart to God like I had never done before. An overwhelming sense of remorse seized my emotions.

I don’t remember how long I stayed knelt there in the church. When I finally left and got back in my car, with tears welling up in my eyes, I had no idea why or what just happened. I felt totally confused. Since I had never been a particularly religious person, to say the least, the experience seemed even led conceivable and much more puzzling. But it did happen, and it left a mark on me that would last forever.

I would never be the same man who had gone into church that morning.

That day would mark the beginning of what I realize were God’s gifts pouring out into my life, at least the many I am aware of. I am sure there are many more that I am not conscious of.

I would discover sometime late that what I had experienced had been a spiritual conversion—not necessarily a common experience, but not all that rare either.

It’s true to say, “When you leave the house in the morning, you never really know how you will return to it.” I know I hardly expected to return seemingly transformed, both personally and spiritually.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jul 20, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685261986

Book preview

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When God Came My Way

Dave Zimmerman

ISBN 978-1-68526-197-9 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68526-198-6 (Digital)

Copyright © 2022 Dave Zimmerman

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Covenant Books, Inc.

11661 Hwy 707

Murrells Inlet, SC 29576

www.covenantbooks.com

Table of Contents

What Is Going On?

Changes in Priorities

Unexpected Job Offer

An Emotional Shock

Guided

Someone Who Would Introduce Me to Advanced Knowledge

Lifetime Gift

The ‘Breakup’

Gifts Pour In

It Took Wings

In Search of a Hero

Retirement Turned to Writing

Dealing With Adversity

Self-Pity and Ego Emerge

Foreword

I have the great honor of writing the foreword for this beautifully written spiritual manifesto by my dad, David Zimmerman. I am the oldest of his eight children with my mom, Peggy, and have been able to witness firsthand God’s work in my dad’s life.

Watching my dad tune in to what God was saying and the people He was putting in his path, I became keenly aware of God’s presence all around. Day after day, my dad has been living the sacred journey and, unbeknownst to him, teaching those around him along the way. The spiritual legacy is a gift to his wife, ten children, thirty (and counting) grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and all those whose lives he’s touched by following God’s plan and listening to God’s nudges.

When God Came My Way is a direct account of life-changing moments. Journey along Zimmerman’s life as he experiences God’s presence time and time again, as he is catapulted into circumstances he could’ve never predicted while stumbling upon strange occurrences, people, and situations. He has constructed a well-crafted spiritual memoir—one that honors his sacred story while, at the same time, making it accessible to others.

The real subject of this memoir is not Zimmerman himself as much as it is the human condition to wonder, Why am I here? Where am I going? What is my purpose? The heart of this spiritual memoir is written on every page of his story. Throughout this book, Zimmerman exposes his life in relationship to something greater. It is an intensely private, intimate conversation between oneself and the great mystery. Witness the stories on the pages of When God Came My Way, and uncover and honor what is sacred within your own life story.

—Christy Cool

Gifts of Grace

In part of my life, I actually am aware that I have been abundantly blessed in countless ways. Starting in my early thirties, I have received many of God’s graces throughout the years. I call these my gifts.

I recount only those gifts that I recall and recognize as God’s graces. I know God is here for us daily, but some of God’s favors stand alone for me as they impacted me and many others in my life.

I felt it important for me to let others know I am well aware of my special gifts and am forever thankful for… When God Came My Way.

Chapter 1

What Is Going On?

It all began on a Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, a few months after my thirtieth birthday. After a busy day of sales calls, I arrived home exhausted. Well, maybe exhausted would not be a good way to describe what I felt. I felt strangely uneasy and ill at ease. Just plain uncomfortable would be the description of my mood that evening. Nothing special had happened at work. It was just a stranger feeling that came over me.

I wasn’t much different the next morning. I still felt out of sorts. I remember saying to myself, What the heck is going on?

According to Pope Francis,

God sometimes makes us uncomfortable before he wants to get our attention.

I ate a quick breakfast, got in the car, and started driving to my office. Almost without thinking or paying attention to where I was going, I found myself in the parking lot of the local Catholic church nearby our house. For some strange reason, I felt it was a stop I needed to make.

Mass had just ended, so the church was empty, except for a couple of altar boys cleaning up around the altar.

Before I realized it, I was in the back pew, on my knees. Over the next several minutes, I poured out my heart to God like I had never done before. An overwhelming sense of remorse seized my emotions.

As soon as I got on my knees, a veil lifted from my mind’s eye. Suddenly, in that moment, I clearly saw myself for what I was: proud, conceited, and completely self-centered, among many other impieties that became painfully clear. With tears rolling down my face and sobbing so hard my entire body shook, I found myself asking—no, literally begging—for forgiveness for my past behavior and sins. The list was long. I could see it plainly as never before.

In this unforeseen and sudden sorrow, I had been able to painfully see all my sins: pride, ego, selfishness, and unbridled impatience with all those around me. As though crying out from some mysterious source within my innermost being, I pleaded repeatedly that I might become more kind, generous, patient, understanding, and loving. I remember using words previously foreign to my vocabulary. Self-reproach had seldom been a part of my thought process.

I don’t remember how long I stayed knelt there in the church. When I finally left and got back in my car, with tears welling up in my eyes, I had no idea why or what had just happened. I felt totally confused. Since I had never been a particularly religious person, to say the least, the experience seemed even less conceivable and much more puzzling. But it did happen, and it left a mark on me that would last forever.

I would never be the same man who had gone into the church that morning.

While in one sense that it had been a rather stranger and disturbing experience, it also must have been a cleansing of sorts. Afterward, I immediately felt a sense of peace come over me that I don’t recall ever