I was brought up in a Protestant faith and dutifully attended Sunday School; but the longer I stayed, the more questions I asked. The Bible was confusing, self-contradictory, and it seemed no one could answer my questions satisfactorily.
I became dissatisfied with religion and finally convinced myself that there was no God. I lived under this illusion for many years, and they went by, filled with the usual round of searching for pleasure and material things and, consequently, with the resulting effects of depression, disappointment, discouragement, fears, and illnesses.
Then came a day when I touched bottom, and my extremity became God's opportunity. For nine weeks I was bedridden, suffering from rheumatic fever. This extremely painful and critical condition forced me to search again for the answer to life. I needed to live. I had a little family that still needed its mother. For the first time I yearned for someone or something outside of all mortal selfhood to help me.
