"Did you remember to say your prayers?" How many times did I hear that growing up! And I said my prayers, every night, the last thing before I went to sleep. I went to church, too, every Sunday with my family. But no matter how much I prayed or how often I went to church, I never really felt like I heard God talking to me, or felt His presence. I began to wonder if He really existed.
Not surprisingly, like many of my friends, by age 15 I had stopped praying and discovered creative ways to escape the inevitable Sunday drive to church. God had become a pretty abstract concept to me, and by my estimation He wasn't very helpful, tangible, or relevant in my life. By the time I went to college, I had decided that the only way I was going to find happiness or accomplish anything was through my own sheer wits and determination.
And that approach led to a pretty good life, at least initially. After graduating from college as a civil engineer, I found a good job, married my college sweetheart, and bought a nice home in the country. We had a comfortable life and, it seemed, a promising future. But then things started to go wrong. My marriage soured, and we got divorced after only three years. I was fired from my job because I didn't get along with my co-workers.
