My most vivid God moment was not hard for me to come
up with. I undoubtedly felt the powerful presence of God in and through the hero
in my life. My hero's name is Jimmy.

Jimmy is not only my cousin, but one of my best
friends. At a young age he was diagnosed with the terminal disease Duchenne
Muscular Dystrophy. He has been wheel chair bound since a young age and is
totally dependent upon others for his every day needs. The amazing thing is I
have never once heard him in my life complain about his disease. He's always
thinking of others and his faith in God is so inspiring. He takes every opportunity to share his faith in God with others.

This past Christmas was the most challenging,
amazing, and emotional time of my life. Two weeks before Christmas Jimmy was
admitted into the hospital in the ICU. He was having extreme
difficulties swallowing and was loosing weight due to little food/calorie
intake. So he had to have surgery to get a feeding tube put in.

Some may think this was an easy surgery, but that
was hardly the case. Because of his disease, his chances of his body surviving
a surgery were little to none and even if he made it through the surgery the
probability of him coming off the ventilator was even slimmer.

A few days before his surgery we decided to bring
Christmas to Jimmy. So we came in with Santa hats, a Christmas tree and
presents! It would have been so easy for someone to be so down in his
situation. Jimmy was the opposite. He had the most positive attitude I have
ever seen in my life.

The amazing thing about my cousin is that he is always
so joyful. That night he was asking how we were doing, when he's was the one in
the hospital facing a serious surgery. I never once heard him complain about
being in the hospital. Instead God's love was just pouring out of him.

The night before Jimmy's surgery I was hanging out
with him, laughing and watching Americas
funniest home videos. At one point, he just started reciting bible verses. The
room was filled with God's presence. Jimmy clearly had the confidence and
comfort of knowing that his Father in heaven would take care of him. No matter
the outcome and the pain he was in, he didn't let that bring him down. Instead
he was just overflowing with God's joyful spirit spreading a contagious love to
all around him!

The next morning, as they rolled Jimmy off to
surgery and past our whole family in the hallway, Jimmy started singing Deck
the Halls with the nurses as loud as they could. We didn't know if we would
ever see Jimmy again, but we were all filled with a peace from God. It was
truly a God moment.

Jimmy not only made it through the surgery, but he
was off the ventilator within two hours! That day I was shown how
powerful prayer really is and how God is
faithful in answering our prayers. I was shown by my hero what it really means to
trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding!

Jimmy is my hero and always will be. His courage and
strength is evidently a gift from God. We all have so much to learn from him!

God is amazing and He is so good! He is faithful and
he takes care of us. He shows us his unconditional love through the most
troubling moments in life. I was reminded by God that life is so short and that
we need to live in the now. We need to live our lives to the fullest praising
our Father in Heaven with all our Heart. We need to live our lives with joy and
love. Taking every opportunity God gives us to further his kingdom.