I was raised in what we would now call the “old Catholic Church”. I received a very good education by the nuns in grammar school and by the Irish Christian Brothers in high school. I graduated from Jesuit Loyola University of Chicago so my background was almost completely Irish Catholic.

God had been very good to me through the trials of the early years. By the time I was 20, both of my parents were dead and I was living by myself. He brought a lovely young lady into my life when I was 23 and we were wedded in the Catholic Church. Her family did not approve of me so we threw our own wedding and were married on a Friday in the midst of a Chicago winter. In 1977, I lost my job in Illinois and went down to Houston, Texas where I was hired almost immediately. God had His hand on my shoulder, helping me and guiding me.

Unfortunately, I began to take God for granted as if He were a heavenly ATM machine and I began to walk away from Him in 1980. It was a slow process at first and I did not fully realize why I was drying up inside. I still attended weekly Mass but the love and the trust that I had in God Who brought me to Texas, was slowly evaporating.

Gradually, I became disenchanted with my marriage, my wife, my career, and became one of those people who think the glass is half-empty instead of half-full. I felt God calling to me, warning me, but I became increasing selfish and self-centered. Of course, I blamed everyone else for my discontent.

One night, I had a dream. In this dream, I saw God as the Pillar of Fire as described in the Old Testament. He was like a great, big burning whirlwind, like something out of a Cecil B. DeMille movie. In the dream, I got mad and I said to God, “It’s fine for You to go about like this great pillar of fire, but why don’t You do something useful and come down here and help me out?!” I woke up and was still angry with God. I expected nothing to come of the dream but another empty promise.

Shortly thereafter, I landed a job with a financially stable company. This was rare in the Houston of the 1980s as companies were falling like flapjacks. The company was run by two men: one was an American who lived in Houston and the other was a Canadian who lived in Toronto. The Canadian was the majority owner but they ran the company like a partnership. I thought I was home free now and I thought that I deserved this.

When my wife met the American, she warned me to be careful with him. She sensed evil. I ignored her as I thought I knew better. I caught a young man stealing but was not able to fire him as the American liked the guy. The Canadian just wanted peace and profits. Within a year, the American set up a trap for me and I foolishly fell into it. The result was the young man was going to take over my duties and I would be put on the side until I found another job. We had a computer installation going on and the owners wanted my expertise but also wanted me to leave when it was completed.

We reached an agreement. I would stay on for the time being and look for a new job. In the meantime, I would help them with their computer installation. I thought I would find a new job within a short period of time but this was not the case. Over the next seven months, I tried to escape from this humiliating purgatory but to no avail. The young man who had taken my place was making a lot of mistakes but he seem to be protected.

During this time, I was being broken down bit by bit. I had hit true evil and knew I was no match for it. I became aware that God was now talking to me and giving me a choice. I could continue to do things my way and see the loss of everything that meant anything to me, my family, my career and my reputation or I could begin doing things His way and He would teach me to win. If I chose God’s way, I must keep doing things God’s way or else He would abandon me completely. That was my understanding of what was happening.

Given personal destruction or taking a chance with God, I thought about it for about five seconds and told God, “Okay, let’s do things your way”. I was not happy about making this choice but I knew that with God, I had a chance to win in this battle. Without God, I was doomed.

At the end of the seven months, I had run out of things to do. I talked it over with my wife and we decided that I should call the Canadian (whom I thought was honorable) and let him know that I had completed the tasks he had set out before me. I expected to be immediately terminated.

I called the Canadian and he offered me my job back, saying he was going to step in and fire the young man. I was shocked. I responded back that I needed to talk to my wife on this matter as she had been through a lot with me and I would get back to him that day.

As I drove home at lunchtime, I weighed the pros and cons in my head about taking the job back. There were many enemies there and I expected they would look for another chance to stick in the knife. Finally, I came to the conclusion that I should not take the job back but be released from this company and this purgatory.

I had definitely made up my mind and had come to a stop sign. I was facing Clay Road Baptist Church. Then, the power of God filled the car. I can’t describe it. God told me that He understood my reasons and my conclusions. He simply said, “Would you do this for Me?”

I was overwhelmed with emotion. God’s love overwhelmed me. I had never felt so loved in my life. Overcome, I told God I would do it for Him.

I reached home and told my wife about it. She said, “Let’s give the Canadian a chance. May be he has been deceived on the whole matter.” So, I did and got my old job back and stayed there another eight years.

Now, I had walked away from God from 1980 to 1988, eight years. What began now was the trek back. It was not easy working there. The young man who was immediately terminated had been well liked so the knives were out for me. I had to rely on God completely and He, in turn, would often give the answers to my questions to my wife. So, my wife and I had to begin our marriage anew. At the beginning of our marriage, I was completely in charge and my wife’s opinion held little value for me. Now, I realized that as part of the compact with God, I had to ask for her help if we were to succeed.

During the next eight years, God began to slowly heal me and in turn, heal the people around me whom I had wounded by my selfishness. I did not have a good relationship with my father. God stepped in as my Father and began to teach me why things had happened in the past (generational curses) and why Our Lord’s sacrifice was necessary to save and heal mankind. Forgiveness is key. To receive God’s grace from the Cross, we must forgive everyone without exception and turn it all over to God. We must also forgive ourselves and if we have been mad at God in the past (as I have), we must forgive God.

I was back in 1st grade of life, learning the basics of why we exist.

Near the end of the eight years, the Canadian grew increasing greedy. He terminated his American partner and sought to achieve total control of the company by eliminating all the partners/people who had helped him build up the business. The man whom I had held in great regard, turned out to be the most evil because he projected himself as if he was a good guy. This type of people are the most dangerous (the wolves in sheep’s clothing).

However, I was a different man now. God had changed me and healed me. After I turned to Him in 1988, He had given me a vision in symbolic form. He had shown me my life from the time I was a child until the present. He also showed me a future where I would be protected from these two men and brought to a better place.

Eight years after my conversion/collision experience with God, He opened the door and brought me up to Fort Worth from Houston. This occurred in 1996. The Prodigal Son had returned home completely to the Father.

My life since then has been much happier and I am more at peace internally despite what is going on in the world. When I see things in the Church that makes me angry, God simply tells me that I am to concentrate on the tasks He has given me and that in His good time, He will straighten out the Church.

God has taught me a lot and He continues to teach me.

I do hope that this testimony will help some one else who may be going through the trial.

May the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with the reader, now and forever. Amen.

David J Sheehan Crowley, Texas davidjsheehan100@yahoo.com