“If you really exist, God, if the Bible is true … I would like this girl for my wife,” Arturo wrote. “And I promise to be in your path.”
The next day he spotted Aida’s truck in parking lot. With his letter fresh in his mind, he decided to call her old number and try one last time to arrange a date. It took three tries for the number to connect, but it finally rang through and to his surprise she said “yes.” They arranged to meet for dinner two nights later. “I looked up and said, ‘Thank you God,’” Arturo said.
Grateful and inspired, Arturo wrote a second letter, asking God for his date with Aida to be something special for both of them. It was. In fact, the evening went so well that Aida invited Arturo to church.
That Sunday, Arturo was surprised to hear God addressing challenges in his life through the pastor’s message. Intrigued, he accepted Aida’s invitation to Bible study.
Several weeks after beginning Bible study, a new friend asked if Arturo might like to accept Jesus as his personal savior. When Arturo responded half-heartedly, he heard a voice say, “Listen!” So, he listened as his new friend offered a plan for salvation. “That’s when I opened my heart to Jesus and I received him.” Arturo began studying the Bible in earnest and attending church regularly. His relationship with God began to strengthen.
Arturo and Aida have been married now for 20 years. God has blessed him with children, with a home and with a good job that meets the family’s needs. Over the years, God has helped free him from destructive behaviors, financial challenges and debilitating back pain. And Arturo has grown close enough to God that he no longer writes him letters.
“Now I don’t need to write letters to him. Now I talk to him,” Arturo said. “Before I was trying to convince myself that he really existed, but he was there all the time.”
