i love this story.

This is my "proof" that there IS a God...in some form, at least. That there's SOMETHING out there looking out for me. It won't prove it to everyone, as it could have been luck, it could have been...well, many things. But it was proof enough for me. Lots of you have already heard this story via myspace, but bear with me.

A friend and I were driving away from "Disney on Ice" in Houston, and we stopped at a gas station to throw away some trash from our Mickey-D's dinner. We went driving along, and after a few minutes, this older black guy pulled up next to us and started pointing at the back of the car and yelling something. I waved, muttered "Yeah, buddy, suuuure..." and we drove on. He kept pointing and yelling, so I finally said "Ok, pull in here, and if he stops, drive off...if not, I'll check it out." She pulled in, and he drove on, so I got out to look.

About 10 feet behind the car, on the ground, lay my purse. I guess it had fallen out when we stopped, and was barely hanging on to the car, because it had dropped off RIGHT then. It was a bit banged up, but everything in it (save one lipstick container) was undamaged and accounted for. If we had waited one more minute to pull over, I'd have never found it, because of when it dropped off. I think I was whispering "Thankyouthankyouthankyou" the whole way home.

NOW...for those of you wanting something to quibble about: Why did I find my purse that day, but someone who misplaced hers at the supermarket never found it? Or worse, why was someone else mugged at gunpoint for THEIR purse? (I did a paper in college about why bad things happen to good people, original sin and all that, but all I remember from the experience is that I got really pissed off at the Christian god for his actions towards Job.)

I have a lot of Proof stories, but this one marked a turning point for me.

Summer 1983 - My Grandfather had died. Money was REAL tight at the time, but we were able to put together enough for me to make the trip to Northern NY. I took along our 9 month old daughter to help remind people about the whole "circle of life" thing. Anyway, the trip went well. On the way home, we took a a plane from Syracuse to NYC, where we were making a connecting flight to Houston. After I got off the plane in NYC, I realized that I had lost my ticket/boarding pass for the next flight.

I went back to the plane, but it had already been cleaned and was reboarding. I spoke with the flight attendants and they said they did not find a ticket.

I went to the ticket counter and asked what I could do. They said I could buy a new ticket. Nice. Not really an option because I didn't have money or a credit card.

I went to the Lost & Found - no good.

I tried calling my family - They had all gone off to a camp in the Adirondacks, so I couldn't reach anybody (remember, this is before cell phones)

SO, here I am - in an airport in New York City with a baby. No money, no credit cards, nobody to call for help.

I had been struggling with the whole God thing for a long time at that point, so I sat down, hugged my baby, and made a simple prayer. I said "God, if you get me out of this, I'll never doubt your existance again." I then cleared my mind of all fear, and waited.

I got the idea of going to baggage claim. I went to the area where the baggage for the flight I was on was distributed, and found an attendant. I told her my problem, and she asked me a few questions. Turns out somebody on my flight had found my ticket and given it to her!

You can call it coincidence if you like, but I don't believe in coincidence. There's no way my mind would have directed me to baggage claim in this case. It just doesn't make sense to me that someone would leave a found ticket at baggage claim.

Any way, I've kept my promise, but it's really not hard to believe when things like that keep happening.

All I can say to that is Wow. Thats is amazing.

I don't have any stories as great as that but I do have one that is rather odd. In 1993 my grandmother (my Dad's mother) was very sick and on life support. It was Christmas day and I was riding with my Mom to my other grandmother (My Mom's mom) for Christmas day. Half way there I just happen to look up in the sky and noticed a very strange cloud, like noting I have ever seen before or since. The cloud was in the shape of a cross. I grew up near an army base and knew what jet trails look like and it was nothing like a jet trail. Looking at it I got this horrable heavy feeling. That afternoon during Christmas dinner the phone rang. I was my Dad, he said that grandma had died.

I am not a Christain nor do I subsribe myself to any particular religion but it is someting that I will always remember.