This is the first in a two part story. We’ll walk with Adam through his formative years as he learns to trust God. In the second episode we’ll hear how Adam is in the middle of putting that trust into action in the middle of the storm.

Adam grew up in a close family working in agriculture in Kansas. His family was active in his Lutheran church growing up. While very active in the church as a child as he grew up, it became less meaningful.

Were there times that he needed God to show up as a kid? At age 9, Adam had an infection that his body’s autoimmune response was to kill the pancreas. This resulted in diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. He had to learn to live with this new condition at a time when we knew a whole lot less about it than we do now. He had to learn to give himself shots, to keep snacks around. He began to think that this medical condition was a punishment for something he had done; or maybe God wasn’t as real as the religion he grew up in wanted him to believe God was. This allowed bitterness and resentment to creep in.

The distance between Adam and God grew. Eventually, Adam felt so worn down, that he found himself looking for ways to end his life in a way that would not look like suicide. In the midst of his multiple ineffective attempts that God clearly communicated that God was not done with Adam yet. And that Adam was not to try and do God’s job. This experience helped Adam get through confirmation in his church and confirming what he believed about God.

God continued through Adam’s life to reaffirm that God was not done with him yet. A theme in Adam’s life began to develop. God was watching over Adam and repeating, “You can’t do this on your own, but I’ve got you.”

Fast forward, at age 21, Adam was married and wanted to fulfill his dream of being a father. Struggling to have kids, Adam found out through a fertility clinic that he would not ever have kids. His wife divorced him as she wanted to have a family and wanted to do that with someone else. This led Adam down a self destructive road apart from God. Even though Adam wasn’t giving God a second thought, Looking back, Adam realized that God was walking through him with this. Four years later, engaged to a woman who was not able to have kids, found out they were expecting their first son. Just over a year later, their second son arrived. God was blessing Adam, even though Adam was not walking with, talking to, or even thinking about God. God answered ‘YES’ to a prayer that Adam hadn’t prayed in years, that he thought the answer was “NO”..

Through an Alpha Class that met at a local bar, Adam reencountered God. God said, Remember me? I’m the one that did this for you. It was, “Hey, I’m real. Come get to know me.” This was the beginning of a meaningful personal relationship with God.

We’ll finish this episode rewinding to an episode in Adam’s life when he made bad decisions and found himself picking up a Gideons bible while in jail. God showed up time and again to keep Adam from driving his life off a cliff. God proved that he was faithful even when Adam was not.

Confirmation Diabetes Suicide Infertility God’s Blessing