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I became very rebellious.
I wanted to do things my own way.
When I woke up I was completely blind.
The doctors said I would be blind the rest of my life.
My dreams are gone. I’ll never be a truck driver.
I lost my will to live, until...
I was born a preacher’s kid. I had a dream to be a truck driver as a young boy. Around age 12, I became very rebellious. My father was a disciplined person and forced us to go to church. I wanted to do things my own way. Around age 15, I started dating a girl I had gone to elementary school with. We made plans to run away together. I wanted to get a place to live so she and I could shack up.
On my 16th birthday, I went to get my driver license. Dad had given me a car and said if I helped him in the shop, he would let me go on a date that night. What he didn’t know was I already had plans to leave that night. That afternoon I was working with a chisel, and a tiny piece of steel broke off the chisel and hit me in the left eye. It didn’t hurt. It felt like a gnat in my eye. Mama wouldn’t let me leave. I went to bed early and told my girl we would go the next night. I went to bed, and when I woke up I was completely blind. It felt like gas or chemicals were in my face. It burned awful bad. My parents took me to the hospital, the doctors said I would be blind the rest of my life. He called my family in and told everyone the accident had destroyed my retina. My heart was broken. I stayed in the hospital 13 weeks.
The hospital contacted the Blind Society, and they worked with me. I was learning to read Braille. After about 5 months, I got pretty good. But things weren’t right. I was blind. I couldn’t see. Then one day, in the midst of working with the Blind Society, my girl came. She was wearing a ring. She took the ring and placed it in my hand. She said, “It’s a proven fact you are never gonna see again, and I don’t want to marry a blind man. I don’t want the responsibility of taking care of you.”
My heart was broken. I had no will to live. Being a preacher’s kid, I knew the bible and about God, but I didn’t really know Him. After she left, I talked to God for myself for the first time. I was all alone, heartbroken, and I actually talked to God myself, without anyone else there to pray for me. I said a simple prayer. “Lord, here I am. I have nothing. I lost everything. I lost my will to live. My girlfriend doesn’t want me. I can’t see. My dreams are gone. I’ll never be a truck driver.” I said, “Lord, if You will give me my sight back, I will give You my life.”
When you lay in the hospital bed or lay around back home, you have a lot of time to think. This girl did this. I prayed that prayer, and nothing big happened. The thoughts just kept running through my head. Then one morning, about two weeks later, I woke up. I could see real blurry. My mom was there, and she was wearing a yellow blouse. Mom couldn’t believe it. When she realized I knew what color she had on, she began to shout. They had been praying. She called the doctor, and the doctor said it was impossible. They had taken out the nerve that controls my eye. But the doctor gave me the benefit of the doubt and took me in for a fourth surgery.
After the fourth surgery, I had to wear special eye covers. My parents had to put drops in my eye for a month. It seemed like a year! I went back to the doctor, he took the eye covers off, and I had 20/20 vision. I was overwhelmed with excitement. I was almost 17. I realized I had talked to God myself, a preacher’s kid, for the first time. Everyone thinks preachers kids are special, but I didn’t feel that way. I was forced to go to church and didn’t want to. It gave me a hard heart. When I got my sight back, I can’t explain what went on inside of me. My dreams came back. I still desired to drive a truck. I had told the Lord I would give my life to Him for my sight. Well, at the age of 17, I did not do that. I went crazy, drinking and chasing women.
Years later, a guy gave me an opportunity, and I ended up on a farm milking cows. When the farmer I worked for went out of business, the milk truck driver came and offered me a job. He taught me how to drive. Then I got this crazy idea I wanted to see the world. I got an over-the-road job, running wild. Never being home, I was faced with all kinds of temptations, including prostitutes and gambling.
About 13 years later, the Lord began to deal with me. I began to hear that prayer had I prayed over and over. God was playing it back in my mind. I made a promise and had gone wild, living in sin. I was the worst I had ever been, riding the highways, doing my thing. I would stop at truck stops and pick up tracts, 5 or 6 at a time, and lay in my bunk and read them. I read as a kid because I had to, but now I actually wanted to read. I was about 30 years old and married to a wonderful wife. I went to sleep at a Petrol Truck Stop and then woke up. I realized for the first time that I did not have Jesus, and that if I was to die I wasn’t right with God.
That morning, I kneeled in the bunk in the freightliner. I asked Jesus to come into my life. All these years I thought I was saved because my daddy was a minister. I thought I was automatically saved, and now I finally realized this wasn’t true. I didn’t want to curse any more. My wrong desires left. I felt like a new man. I had hope. I wanted to tell the world. I wanted to talk about God and tell somebody how He changed my life. In the bible, in the book of Mark, it tells about a blind man. Jesus traveled and came to the town where the blind man was. Jesus passed by, and this blind man heard and called His name out. People asked the blind not to bother the master. He got louder and louder. Jesus turned and asked the man what He could do for him. The man asked for his sight, and the Lord healed him that day.
What I kept thinking in my heart is what if that blind man never called His name. He would still be blind. I think about me. What if I never asked and had stayed blind. I thank the Lord and give Him praise. My mind goes back to that day I gave my promise. He healed me. A lot of people aren’t physically blind but are blind in their hearts. You may be the driver who is blind and have never called on the Lord. He said whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord. Maybe you never stopped and thought about your soul. Just stop and think, I was a preacher’s kid and just thought I was automatically saved. But the bible says every person must call on the name of the Lord. He may be dealing with your heart. You may have felt His presence. If you have been touched by what I have shared, the Lord is here for you to call on His name. Call on Jesus. Today is the day. Now is the accepted time. We drive on the highways and don’t have a promise to return home, but when Jesus lives in your heart, you know peace. If you accept Him as your Lord and Savior, if something happens, you are safe and secure in the arms of Jesus. I want you to know today if you are a truck driver or not, I love you. Jesus loves you. He died for you. We may never meet here on earth, but we could meet someday on the streets of gold in heaven.
Real Life Stories Christian Testimony Books
Jim and Carla Barbarossa
Phone: 219-762-7589
Email: jimbarbarossa7@gmail.com or jim@step-by-step.org
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