Thursday, January 27, 2011

One of the Happiest Days of My Life.


I can’t begin to tell you how many times over the past eight years I just wanted to die. I entered the valley of the shadow of death and each time I met Jesus there he carried me out. He wouldn’t leave me in that place of darkness and despair.

I spent a long time in the valley back in 2001 after witnessing the 911 attacks on New York City from a highrise office building a mile or so from ground zero. Although I wanted to reach out and stop the pending death and destruction, I was helpless to prevent it from happening.

A year later I was told I had cancer. I took pride in my health and having some serious illness was the furthest thing from my mind. I prayed all the time and I read and studied the Bible every chance I got. I wrote my prayers and scriptures in a notebook that later became my journal. Upon reading and studying Psalm 91, I “heard” the Lord speak to my heart and say, “I will sheild you with my wings, I will shelter you with my feathers.” The diagnosis was miraculously changed shortly thereafter. However, the pain that I experienced grew more intense with each passing day and I ended up in the Intensive Care Unit of Greenwich Hospital (Connecticut). I had to have surgery to remove the diseased portion of my intestine. All was thought to have gone well, but three days later, I lost consciousness. I spent the next two months fighting for my life. I remember very little from those two months. But I was told that I was very near death for a good part of that time, and even had to be resuscitated. My wife used my journal to encourage those who were my caretakers. I kept writing in my journal for encouragement and inspiration.

I didn’t think my life could get any worse, however in 2004 I got separated and then divorced. I turned again to my journal; reading, writing and editing. I started visiting those who were sick at local hospitals and nursing homes. I told them how Jesus met me in the dark place and wouldn’t leave me there. The more I told my story, the more I was inspired to go forward. I continued to write and thought that my story might encourage others who had little or no hope.

Today after many years and many revisions, I have completed my story. It’s called, “Touched By The Hand Of God.” I published it as an independent author on Smashwords. You can read a portion of the book for free. Follow this link or paste it in your browser  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/39345

Thanks to Smashwords proprietary software the book can be downloaded in many different formats. I personally prefer the Mobi format which is used by Amazon Kindle. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can download the free Kindle for PC software by clicking this link http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311

Another good ebook format is EPUB. It’s used on Apple devices. If you want to download the software for use on your computer, click this link http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/
I appreciate your feedback.

Joe Radosti