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by Hugh Mayes (Author)
God calls people to be in His service. In 1592, one of my great-grandfathers was ordained a priest of the Church of England and later became the pastor of the Pilgrims in Holland. In 1773, another Great-grandfather was instrumental in building Sappony Baptist Church. I was ordained there in 1979.
God is an awesome God who wants a relationship with you through His Son Jesus. Our lives may not be perfect, but God directs our path if we follow His directions in His Word, the Bible, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I am thankful that the God of the universe cares enough for me to know me by name and knows where I am in a little village in Virginia, USA, not big enough to be on the map.
I was born in an old house with no electricity. They put my baby bottles down the well to cool and to keep them from spoiling. My mother was sick, and I did not bond with her as my mother. I was hospitalized at the age of three months with pneumonia. I was a timid, neurotic, young first grader. I suffered from separation anxiety being away from home and family. I started having migraine headaches in the fourth grade. I had a lung collapse that bled internally until I went into blood pressure shock at age nineteen. I contracted Hepatitis C from the blood transfusions. I became depressed and attempted suicide. Years later, I was stabbed above the heart, collapsing my lung and coming within a fraction of entering the heart cavity. Through the CAT scan from the stabbing, they found I had an aortic aneurysm. My oxygen level would not stabilize until they found a hole in my heart. Six months later, my lungs began filling with fluid caused by the stabbing, and I stopped breathing during a procedure. God has been with me every step of the way. He has truly blessed life.
