This is a miracle list.  Almost everyone in Alcohol-Drugs recovery has heard of a gratitude list, but there are very few who have heard of a miracle list.  A miracle list was used by a number of pioneers in AA to list GMC’s (God Manipulated Coincident) to add strength to their faith when times were extra tough.  This particular list was kept in a 3-ring spiral notebook long before the website was created.

 

 

       My favorite scripture, John 10:27, “I know mine and they know me and no one will snatch them from me.”

 

 

1.            Colonel Klink Story—Hogan’s Heros  (Voice and glowing Cross in Church).  On or about June 15, 1959, as an enlisted man in the Air Force in Madison, Wisconsin, I was cited for some serious traffic citations, including DUI.  In the police station, while throwing around chairs, I yelled that Senator Dirksen of Illinois was a good friend of the family (the police considered it a lie from a drunk—it was a total lie!).  The Madison police made sure they told my commanding officer what I said to get me in more trouble.  The Air Force was threatening to give me a Bad Conduct Discharge.  They were furious and were riding me like only the military can ride someone with whom they are angry.  I was frightened like I had never been frightened before.  I started praying like I never prayed before and going to church daily.   In or around November of 1959 I was in a church in Madison, Wisconsin.  After services (approximately 7:45 am), the cross appeared to glow brightly to me and I heard a voice say, “It’s alright, Bill.  Just don’t do it again.”  I thought I was going insane and just imagined that I heard God’s voice—maybe it was me talking to myself.  It took 15 minutes to get back to the barracks and start preparing for morning inspection.  At 8:05 am, I was called to the public phone in the barracks (20 total minutes after the glowing cross and voice was heard) and told that all charges in town had been dropped!!! My commanding officer now thought that I knew powerful people!  Interestingly, not long afterward, I got into a confrontation with a captain over something that he had done which was very nasty and unchristian.  Almost everyone on the base knew about the confrontation.  I told the base chaplain, who was now my very good friend. Two weeks later the captain was transferred to the Aleutian Islands without a word.  My commander now was definite that I knew very powerful people.  He decided to send me to school to keep me out of trouble (I had dropped out of high school to join the Air Force).  It was arranged that I would go to school during the day and work nights in the Air Force (I averaged about 5 – 6 hours of sleep a night for the next 3 years).  God had turned a very nasty situation into my getting 3 years of education: a high school diploma and 2 years of college credits (with a B average) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  After about 2 ½  years of going to school days and working nights, on a whim, I took the qualification test for the Air Force Academy at the post office.  Obviously, because of having two years of college, I had an advantage in taking the test.  Because I was a resident of Illinois, my results were sent back to my home state, Illinois.  When Senator Dirksen received the results of my test, he nominated me to the Air Force Academy.  It was quite amusing to see the look on my commanding officer’s face when I showed him the beautifully embossed nomination letter from Senator Dirksen (though, I stayed in Madison and graduated from the University of Wisconsin).  Shortly thereafter, I was given multiple decorations in the Air Force. 

2.            I did not heed His warning.  The priest that was working with me moved home to Atlanta, Georgia, and I eventually went back to drinking.  Though I was commissioned in the Air Force and did go on to graduate school, this led to years of torment, ruined relationships, and loss of self-respect. Due to broken promises by two senior officers in the USAF (promised and denied flight school twice) and a DUI citation received when I was a nuclear launch officer, it cost me a year of pure hell in SAC, and though I received an honorable discharge, the Air Force put on the discharge a “secret code 509,” as it was called back then.  This SDN509 caused pure havoc with my employment and home life. Putting this code on an honorable discharge is now prohibited by the DOD.  After resigning my commission, I attended law school for two years, nights—I was going to sue the Air Force!!!  Doing very well (first student in the history of Kent College of Law, Chicago,  that had two law briefs put on display in the law library), I showed up drunk in my fourth semester and was put on Pro—I resigned law school because of fear.  Attending Loyola University nights for a master’s in math, a situation developed where my love for Jesus was tested and I chose Jesus.  I ended up obtaining the highest average of those obtaining their master’s degrees in math.

3.            In Freedom, Wisconsin, May of 1973, in a drunken rage, I shot and killed my dog and then turned the gun on my first wife’s head, pulling the trigger over and over.  God again saved me from the consequences of my insanity.  When I returned to AA and shared my story of the dog and wife, one of the guys stopped me after the meeting and said to me, “I have been watching you for a couple of years coming in and out of these doors and I think I can help you.  Who do you call your Higher Power?”  I said, “Jesus.”  He said, “You should pray to Jesus to help you accept in your heart that you are an alcoholic, not just admit it with your mouth.”  I left that meeting very angry at him, but I started doing what he said.  One month later, I admitted total defeat and begged God for help.   He took away my addiction to alcohol.  I was looking at Solomon’s picture of Christ (the picture with 7 symbols painted into it) and crying because of all the bad things I had done—but also crying in joy because I knew that something special had happened.  The compulsion to drink had been lifted from me and it has never returned—I joined AA, and it is Jesus who has saved me.

4.            Joining AA, I got my first sponsor, Les Kapheim, a Methodist PK, and started working the program seriously.  Please don’t get me wrong.  Though I owe a lot to AA, I believe that it is Jesus that keeps me sober.  Les took me to a charismatic prayer meeting early in my sobriety and there was a guy there who made the statement to the group, “Any time you are confused and hurting, go into your room, close the door, and open the Bible at random, and without looking, point to a verse in the Bible.”  He went on to say, “If you are in trouble at work, for example, it won’t say, ‘Get your resumes out and start interviewing,‘ but it will state a spiritual principle which, if you meditate on it, will help you.”  I thought the guy was nuts.  However, the day quickly came, when in total confusion and fearful about staying sober, I tried what he said.  I pointed to Matthew 10:32.  Jesus says, “If you deny me before men, I will deny you before the Father.”  At that instant in time, I knew that I had a deal with Jesus.  If I would mention that He was the one who was keeping me sober at every meeting—not get on a soap box and preach—simply state that He is the one who keeps me sober, I would stay sober.  At this point in time, it is 40 years later and He has kept his end of the deal, and I have kept my part of the deal.  I have over 40 years of continuous sobriety.

5.            A vision of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River on Christmas Eve.  In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, December of 1976, while reading the book of Joshua in the Bible, in my mind’s eye I was swooped up to 10,000 feet and was looking down at the Jews crossing the Jordan River—at that point in time, I knew that I was going to go to Jerusalem.  I had no money and there was a shooting war going on over there, but I knew that I was going to Jerusalem.  I came into a tidy sum of $14,000 and immediately bought a round trip ticket to Jerusalem (pilgrimage) for Easter.  The trip was cancelled twice because of the war, but I never lost faith that I was going to go if it was God’s will—I was there at Easter. 

6.            A miracle in the Garden of Gethsemane on Easter Morning.  On Easter morning I walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane by myself.  In the garden there was a cement pillar there with a hand print in it.  A sign underneath the handprint talked about Jesus’ doing the Father’s will.  The sign said that the imprint was Jesus’ hand at the time of his terrible passion. Another sign at the gate of the garden said, “Please do not take any souvenirs.”  Looking around, I did not see anyone present, so I selfishly chipped a stone off of the bottom of the pillar. The stone was about the size of the tip of your little finger.  I was planning to have it set in a ring for my mother, even though I knew I was wrong in what I was doing.  I placed the stone in a jeweler’s bag along with several other things that I had placed in there.  A week later, when we were taking off in the 747 from Israel, heading back to the U. S., I said to the woman sitting next to me that I had chipped a stone off of the pillar in the Garden of Gethsemane and that I was taking it home to be set in a ring for my mother.  She asked to see it.  When I opened the jeweler’s bag everything was in the bag except the stone (my mother tried to get Reader’s Digest to print the story but they refused, saying that they did not print religious stories).

7.            Saved from death by two angels.  After the above incident took place in the Garden of Gethsemane, I walked on the path of the Kidron Valley, thinking that I was walking on a path that Jesus had walked 2000 years ago. Walking up the hill, I entered the East Gate, the Moslem section of Jerusalem.  Immediately, Moslems were angrily shouting and pointing at me.  Please remember there was a shooting war going on and the previous night a Muslim was killed in Jerusalem.  I felt that death was very close, and said, “Jesus, please help me.”  Instantly two women with British accents appeared to me and said, “Do you need help?”  I told them that I had walked up the Kidron Valley and that I was frightened.  They told me to follow them.  We quickly took some stairs to the roof of the closest building.  After that we ran across all of the roofs in the Moslem section until we arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  They said, “Go down this fire escape.” Going down the stairs, I looked back and they were gone (angels?)—I entered the Church at the back.  There were hundreds of people trying to get into the church, and I attended services about 10 feet from the altar (first pew first seat).  I could see a mist coming out of the mouths of the clergymen. I felt closeness to God that I have not felt very often.

8.            Feeling the nearness of Christ (God).  In 1981 I went on an Ecumenical Cursillo (extremely intense retreat).  On the last day of the retreat I felt the closeness of Jesus.  It was so sweet and overwhelming that I began to cry with pure joy.  I asked Him to back off a bit because it was so intense—it was wonderful—I have never felt His nearness to that extreme.

9.            Praying for a wife.  After praying for 14 years to God for a wife, I said to God, “When are you going to give me a wife?”  He said to me, “When you are ready to have a wife, I will give you one.”  I said, “O.K.”  The following week (1988) I met Chris at a church function—we got engaged in church (1989).  We were married in church on July 1, 1990.  We have been active members of a church ever since.  Once when we were in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, we were looking in the window of a very expensive store.  I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Chris was bent over looking at a picture of a little Dutch girl sniffing a tulip.  I said a little prayer to Jesus, “Jesus, please help me give Chris a little baby girl.”  Keep this prayer in mind as you read on.

10.        Jesus constantly helped me in my work.  As a computer programmer there have been enumerable problems in which I didn’t have any idea of how to solve them.  After a prayer to Jesus, a strange, new idea would come out of the blue and it would be the solution to the problem.

11.        The airplane crash at Kenosha, Wisconsin.  On Memorial Day in 1990, before taking off in the KR2 (experimental airplane), I said a prayer to Jesus, “Jesus, you know I am crazy and I know that I am crazy.  Please watch over me.” Five minutes later, after the airplane crashed, my leg was severely injured (it needed 300 stitches to put it back together again).  When they were wheeling me into the operating room, the nurse said, “Nobody knows why you are alive.  God must have a plan for you.”  (Two years previous I had asked Jesus to help me give Chris a baby girl.)  At that point in time I cried like a baby because I knew that God was going to give Chris and myself a daughter.  With Jesus’ help, after the first day using Darvon, I used Tylenol for nine weeks (at night to sleep) while my leg was mending—this has helped me in countless other situations where painkillers were tempting.

12.        On August 20, 1992 God gave Chris and me a beautiful baby girl.

13.        A miracle saves me from deadly melanoma.  In 1993 I was given 7 months to live because of cancer (melanoma nodular—stage 4).  At the very next AA meeting I went to, an oncologist research specialist sat at my right hand and told me not to take the chemo—that it would kill me.  He said that I should run for my life—that at the pain barrier the body produces massive endorphins which are pain killers, but that they are also cancer killers.  Twenty years, and 10 marathons later, I am still kicking.

14.        Sadly, our dog dies but is replaced by a beautiful puppy.  LG is my 10 year old, 110 lb., German shepherd, who does exactly what he wants to do when he wants to do it.  We got him at a shelter 7 years ago, 3 hours before he was to be put down.  We named him Let Go and Let God (LG for short).  A short story.  We were in St. Augustine (about 175 miles from home, Lakeland, FL), when he was about 3 years old and he ran off.  We thought he was gone for good--at the time, I had mixed emotions (I was mad at him, but as time went on, I felt really bad).   At about 9:00 p.m. our room phone rang and a woman in the lobby was wondering if we had lost our dog!   As it turns out, she worked at a restaurant down the street and found LG digging in the garbage, and noticed his tags from Lakeland (knew he was from out of town, and started calling all of the hotels and motels in the area, asking if anyone was missing a German shepherd).  Being really pretty and probably quite busy with life, I asked her why she did such a nice deed.  She said that she belonged to a fellowship which believed in doing good acts and not being found out!  I asked her, "Are you a friend of Bill Wilson?"  She said, "Why, yes. Are you?"  An update to this miracle.  LG died when he was 12 years old.  He was very sick and lying in the living room.  I said to him, “Hey, LG how are you doing?  He licked my hand as if to say good-bye (I am crying right now) and he walked out into the yard and laid down and died.  When we got our new puppy, I asked Chris if we should name him “LG”  and she said, “No, there was only one LG”.  So we named him LT, for L-Two, or my rank in the Air Force, or in Roman Numerals, 52, or added together “7,” my very lucky number.  I was just telling Chris that he is the happiest dog I have ever seen. He just goes crazy when we let him outside in the snow—he uses his nose as sort of like a snow plow and runs across the yard scooping all of the snow aside. He is constantly chasing Chris and nipping at her pants, with Chris yelling at him.      Pictures of the wonderful LG and the beautiful baby, LT

15.        Win an employment case that three lawyers said could not be won.  In the summer of 2000 I went to work for AIC in Indianapolis IN.  When the project was coming to an end and Lilly and AIC were playing games, I quit, took my family, and went back home to Florida.  AIC said that because I quit they would not pay unemployment.  Florida refused to pay me the unemployment.  Three Florida lawyers refused to take my case—they said that there was no way that I could win.  With Jesus’ help I kept digging and found a lawyer that gave me some tips.  I went ahead and did the research online.  Practicing Jesus’ presence I participated at the hearing (phone hearing) alone and won the case.

16.        Mini-miracle on Christmas Eve.  On Christmas Eve of 2004, God told me to get into my finest clothes because I was going to serve Him as an EME (Eucharistic Minister) for the first time at that Church—I had never been an EME there before.  I felt privileged to give out His Body.

17.        Close-call in traffic, but all ends well with a mini-miracle.    On New Year’s Eve of 2004, Chris and I decided to stay a night at the Comfort Inn in order to avoid all of the drunken parties and fireworks in our neighborhood.  On our way to the motel, a car came from nowhere (neither Chris nor I saw the car coming) and missed us by inches—it must have been going sixty miles per hour.  When we got to the motel, we were given a two room suite for $62 dollars per night—about a third of the normal price.  Later that evening we went to a local restaurant and bought three steak meals that stretched out to two more meals.  When we returned to the house to get LG there was a letter from the Hearing Officer of Polk County telling me that there would be no points and no school for a recent speeding ticket that I was worried about.

18.        Miracle with a friend from 40 years in the past.  Greg M.  After not talking to Greg for almost 40 years (we sort of drifted our different ways after I resigned my commission in the air force in 1966), I started telling Chris about my best friend in elementary school and high school.  Two days later, I had this overpowering feeling that I should try to call Greg.  Looking up his name on the internet, I found a number of Greg M’s, but one stuck out in New Jersey.  Calling the number given, there was an answer, “Hello.”  I asked, “Is this the Greg M. from Chicago?”  He said, “Yes.”  I asked, “Is this the Greg M.  from Grace Street Elementary School?”  He asked, “Oh my God, who is this?”  Neither one of us realized that it was God calling Greg.  I asked, “Do you remember Dan Peters?”  He said, “Yes.”  I said that I was his next door neighbor and at one time Greg’s best friend.  I then asked Greg, “How are you doing?”  He said, “It is amazing that you called.  I just got out of the hospital today—I almost left this world.”  I asked, “What happened?”  He said that he had gone through alcohol withdrawal and had gone into seizures and that he almost died. He later said, “It was good to hear from you and I have to admit the timing was very curious, you reaching me practically as I walked in the door from the hospital where I came so close to shuffling off this mortal soil.” Again, he said, “In any case, it was good to hear from you and I'm very curious as to how you chose a time to call when things were as they were.”  Unfortunately, in recent years it has been impossible to reach Greg by phone or any other way.

19.        Small Miracle (?).  On March 5, 2005, after serving at church, eating at Pizza Hut, and Shopping at Wal-Mart, we were on our way home on Drane Field Road.  At a stop light there was an obnoxious pickup truck with its radio on loud stopped next to us.  We turned up our radio (“Jail House Rock”) and the light turned green.  The pickup tore off and I realized that it was “Johnny,” Johnny H., the kid across the street.  At the next stop light we stopped alongside of him and when the light turned green, we burned rubber and pulled ahead of him.  As we were continuing on Drane Field Road, he appeared to be driving too close behind us.  I started thinking some bad thoughts of what I would like to do to him—I slowed down and he pulled into the left lane at the next stop light and stopped.  I continued through the light and at the next light (two blocks down the road) there was a sheriff’s deputy in the left lane (he was going to turn west on the Park Way).  As we drove by him, he turned on his right directional and pulled in behind us.  I thought for sure I was going to get a ticket.  He followed us for about a mile (“Johnny” was following the deputy a few cars back).  When we got to our road (by this time, the deputy was right behind me and “Johnny” was right behind the deputy), we turned left, the deputy continued straight, and “Johnny” turned left, but he dropped back and stayed about 2 blocks behind us (all the way to our houses).

20.        Miracle during Hurricane Jean.  Hurricane Jean (Sept of 2004) was coming through Lakeland and the watery driven winds were reaching to 60 or 70 miles/hr.  Chris, Chrissy, and I held hands and prayed to the Father in Jesus’ name that He watch over us.  When Jean passed through, she had damaged the roof of every house around ours and even tore down some pool houses.  She also destroyed a good part of Widow Margaret’s house (inside) after tearing the roof off.  The four houses closest to us all had to have their roofs replaced as a minimum.  The only damage to our property was that an old rotten tree lost a large branch—we later cut the tree down.

21.        Receiving Communion with adoration and reverence.  On Sunday, September 23, 2007, Chris and I were discussing the possibility of going back to a church in Zionsville.  As we spoke I mentioned that I could not return to that church as long as a friend of mine felt that it was OK to be chewing gum while he received the Body and Blood of Christ (he was an elder).  Chris called Ruth (the man’s wife) and talked to her about the situation.  Ruth said that if Chris said so, Ruth would call the church office and ask them how they felt about the situation, and Chris told her that it was not necessary.  I was very upset and called Vinney.  Vinney agreed with me 100% and he quoted 1 Corinthians 11:23.  He said that it was very disrespectful to Jesus for the man to do that.  On the way to Church I had Chris read 1 Corinthians 11:23.  When we got to the church in Indianapolis, the church was crowded and we had to share the row with a man who was by himself—he was very demonstrative in his worship.  As we were sitting during the preaching the pastor the inner voice told me to look at the Bible the man next to me was reading.  He was on the page that contained 1 Corinthians 11.  When he put his Bible down, I asked him if he was reading 1 Corinthians 11:23 and he said that he didn’t know.  Picking up his Bible, he turned to the page at which he was previously reading.  He scanned he page and said, “Yes, it is 1 Corinthians 11:23. 

22.        Miracle while seeking God’s will.  On November 4, 2008 I was getting dressed to vote.  Realizing that I was going to the Royal Run Club House to vote, it was possible that I might see Carlos (a next door neighbor with whom I had had some problems).  I said to the Father that if He put Carlos in my path today, I would wave to him.  He was standing in front of me in the line for people waiting to vote.  We shook hands and each of us apologized for our behavior.

23.        A miracle of picking up my spirits.  On March 31, 2009, at 9:45 a.m. I was disappointed by a fellow member of AA who I thought had long term sobriety.  He asked me to borrow $10 or $20 (he may have long term sobriety, in spite of asking me for money).  At the breakfast table, in front of Chris and Chrissy, I said a prayer:  “Jesus, please help me.  You know that I have been terribly disappointed.”  Within 5 minutes George, a recovering alcoholic (a professed Christian and 10 months sober), called me and lifted my spirits tremendously.

24.        Miracle of reading the same scriptures.  On October 15, 2009, as I was reading the introduction to the Gospel in the Daily Missal, Jesus was warning the Jews and quoted 2 Chronicles 24: 20-24 about Zechariah’s death.  I said to me, “We just read that.”  Looking it up in the big Bible, sure enough, I had read it on Tuesday, October 13, 2009.  I called Chris and told her that I really felt anointed and that God the Father is happy with us.

 

25.        Two miracles in two days.  On February 5, 2010 I worked at Stokes Elementary and a horrific snow storm hit that day.  After work I spent about an hour plowing and shoveling out the driveway.  When Chris and Chrissy came home, Chris said that I had some mail.  It turned out to be the printed reports from the VA.  In the reports Dr. Bhagar states, “50 % or more probability that each diagnosed disability is the result of injury or disease incurred or aggravated in the service…”  Dr. Bhagar also states, “This illness first manifested itself while he was in the service.  There is no record of him having [problems] prior to his military service.”   The doctor also says, “He continued to drink while in service and he received a DUI in 1965.  There is more than 50% probability that its course worsened for him during his 2nd tour, due to the rejection of not being allowed to become a pilot, (before the DUI in 1965) and the harassment (after the DUI).”  It took 8 years to have a psychiatrist in the VA admit that I have a service connected disability.  Talking to Chris and Chrissy about the present situation and that there is probably going to be a considerable amount of money received for the service connected disability and the 8 years of strife with the VA, it occurred to me that God had brought this about so that we (Chris, Chrissy, Patrick and his family, and I) would be able to go to Jerusalem—I cried with joy.  Early the next morning (say about 4:00 am) I got up to go to the bathroom and started reading a book that I have been reading, Soul Harvest, a religious book by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins.  When I got to page 169 the author talks about a hospital in Palatine, Illinois (where Chris and I lived) and Kenosha, Wisconsin (where miracle 11 took place when we were living in Palatine).  What are the odds of an author mentioning these two locations?  These two locations were separated by only one sentence.  I told Chris that if God wasn’t telling us that the thought that I had was real about Jerusalem, He was telling us that He is totally in charge!

 

26.        Miracles in law disputes.  At this site under the link Contact Bill Goss by phone or email  in the education area, it can be seen that I attended night law school (1967-1969), and did pretty well at writing law briefs—was the first student in history of the school to have two briefs put on display in the law library.  On the other hand, I committed adultery and drank my way out of law school.  Many years after Jesus got me sober and keeps me sober, on Wednesday, 02/24/10, I was writing a certiorari (fancy name for a fancy law brief) to the U S Supreme Court because of a dispute a member of my family has had with a former employer in Lakeland, FL.  This employer is ruthless, and because of the poor employment opportunities in Florida, denies unemployment compensation as a regular practice.  Not being a lawyer, I was looking for examples in the docket at the U S Supreme Court website.  The very first pertinent example I brought up was by a man who resides in Lakeland, FL (we had lived in Lakeland, FL for 12 years and moved from Lakeland, FL to Zionsville, Indiana, three years ago).  Calling him, he stated that he is a devout Christian.  Out of all of the cities and all of the people living in them, what are the odds that I would have chosen a certiorari written by a Christian from the last town we lived in 1100 miles away?

 

27.        Miracle of the host and my favorite scripture.  Because Communion is extremely important in my life, it is especially gratifying for me to receive a piece of the original host blessed by the pastor during Consecration.  For 7 weeks I received a wafer, and no matter what I did, I received a wafer—my feelings were hurt to the point of looking for another church for my family to attend.  After discussing this with the pastors of my church, I received emails from them saying that they would work with me to obtain my goal.  To my embarrassment, I wasn’t sure that they were sincere. During the following week Chris, Chrissy, and I were watching Charles Stanley and his message was, “Walking with God.”  Charles stated that in order to walk with God, we must listen to God.  He said that a good beginning would be to start with your favorite verse in the Bible.  I told Chris and Chrissy that my favorite verse was John 10:27, “I know mine and they know me and no one will snatch them from me.”  The following Sunday I didn’t want to go back to the church (with the problem with the host), but I prayed about it and talked to Chris and Chrissy.  They indicated that we should go back.  When I went back to the church, one of the pastors gave me a suggestion of what to do to obtain the original host.  When it was time for the Gospel to be read, you could have knocked me over with a feather!  It was John 10:27, “I know mine and they know me and no one will snatch them from me.”  Tears came down my cheek and, from time to time, kept coming down my cheek.  Jesus was saying to me, “Calm down, Bill.  Everything is under control.”  Thank you, Jesus.

 

28.        The miracle of intuition.  On Wednesday, May 12, 2010, the subject for the meditation for the day in Daily Reflections was “THE PAST IS OVER.”  When I read it, I said, “Are you trying to tell me something, Lord?”  We had been waiting for over 9 years for the VA to determine if and how much my service-connected disability would be and end the 45 years of nastiness caused by the alleged DUI mentioned in #2 above.  That night I jokingly said to Chris, “Do you think that God the Father has been holding back the disability money until you make a Cursillo?” A Cursillo, or in this case “Great Banquet” is an extremely intensive retreat.  It is so emotionally draining that one needs to be sponsored to the retreat.  The following night I took Chris to the three day retreat.  The following morning I was getting ready for work and I scanned our bank account.  There were a lot of zeroes there!  The money was there! Thank you, Jesus.

 

29.        Reading scripture talked about at lunch.  On September 12, 2010, Chris and I visited Chrissy at Indiana University and went to church with her.  There was a delightful sermon mixed with an interview of two elderly people who are presently working in Ghana, Africa as missionaries.  The woman came down with breast cancer but is in remission at the present time.  After church Chris, Chrissy and I went to Olive Gardens for lunch.  Our server was a pleasant young man named Joshua, who is in graduate school.  I started joking with him about his “best friend” Caleb and he said, “It looks like we speak the same language.”  We spent two hours at Olive Gardens talking and sharing spiritual experiences, one of which is Chrissy’s Christian Calling, and headed back to Chrissy’s place on campus.  We parked in the shade of a tree outside and Chrissy opened the scriptures to do our daily reading.  Guess what it was!  It was Sirach 46--Joshua, Caleb and the judges!  What are the odds of our very next reading in Scriptures being exactly what was spoken of in a casual lunch conversation?

 

30.        Miracle while parenting.  On November 4, 2010 at 11:30 pm, Chris and I arrived at Bloomington Indiana to recover the car we had loaned to Chrissy—she had disobeyed us in a very serious situation.  The car was gone.  After waiting for Chrissy to return for about an hour (it was now November 5, 2010 at 12:30 am), we decided to leave.  After exiting the parking facility of her dorm (fairly complicated), we were about to turn right on the main thoroughfare when I had the strong instinct that a car, coming in our direction, about ½ of a mile down the street (to the left) was Chrissy.  I made a left turn and headed north.  When the car passed us, we recognized the car and Chrissy!

 

31.        Miracle of old friends.  On December 26, 2010, at approximately 8 pm, we were packing to return to Indianapolis from Orlando, FL.  We had spent the Christmas days there going to all the Disney parks and Universal Studios (a wonderful gift from God).  My cellular phone rang and though I was tempted to not answer it, I got a very strong feeling that I should answer this call.  Answering it, I heard a voice that I hadn’t heard in years.  It was Bill D from The Friends of Bill W, my home group in Orlando FL when we lived in Florida.  The Friends had asked me to speak at their 10 am meeting. I was pleased to do it.  Bill D stated that he was at an evening meeting and happened to mention that he knew a guy by the name of Bill Goss who used to strongly speak of Jesus Christ as his Higher Power.  It just so happened that at Bill D’s meeting there was a man there who was at the morning meeting in which I spoke and said that I am still speaking of Jesus Christ as my Savior.  Bill D said that he got my number and had to call me and tell me about the incredible “coincidence.”  I call it an “act of love by God the Father.”

 

32.        Miracle of duplicate Valentine Cards.  For Valentine’s Day this year (2011), Chris went to the Christian Book store in Carmel, IN to buy her card.  Because I had been sick with the flu, I stayed in bed the whole weekend (except to go to church) and ventured out on Valentine’s Day at around noon.  I went to Hall Mark in Zionsville, IN.  When we exchanged cards in the evening it turned out that both of our cards had exactly the same scripture quotes: Philippians 1:7 (You have a very special place in my heart.  We have shared together the blessings of God).

 

33.        Miracle of same seat as in Jerusalem’ s Church of the Holy Sepulcher.  On Easter Morning, April 24, 2011, Chris and I were going to a church in Westfield, IN.  It was a dismal day and drizzling.  On the way to church the drizzle turned to a heavy downpour—I jokingly yelled at Jesus to give us some better weather because we were going to church to honor Him.  The rain got worse.  Now I was getting concerned.  There is a part of the trip from Zionsville to Westfield that is pretty tricky—there are three roundabouts in a row, and on anyone of them you can be sent in the wrong direction.  That is exactly what happened.  We actually found ourselves going in the exact opposite direction from the Church and probably would not get there on time for services.  Now I was angry and yelling at Jesus: “Why are you allowing this to happen?”  I told Chris that everybody knows that on Christmas and Easter you have to be to church at least a half hour early to get a seat and we probably would not get a seat.  Dropping her off at the door, I told her to try to get a seat—telling her to pray to Jesus for a seat because she normally didn’t pick good seats (really in a bad mood, huh?).  Coming in to the church, she couldn’t be found.  I saw the pastor and asked him if he had seen her and he said no.  I told him that Chris was supposed to have prayed for a good seat.  Walking halfway up the aisle, someone was waving from the very first pew—it was Chris!  I was actually sitting in the first pew, first seat.  Then it hit me!  This is exactly what happened to me at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem 33 years ago on Easter Day (see #6 and #7 above). 

 

34.        Miracle of becoming a pilot and getting a pension equivalent to that of a Lt-colonel.   On September 7, 2011 we were notified that my pension was increased. What is really beautiful about this situation is that I originally wanted to make a career in the Air Force as a fighter pilot but lost my commission and wings.  In AA, with the help of Jesus (and my ex-marine sponsor of 31 years), I flew as a civilian pilot and ultimately obtained a pension from the government.  On September 9, 2011, Chris submitted her letter of resignation with two weeks’ notice and retired from her job.  In Jesus name, thank you, Father God.

 

 

35.        Miracle of Meetings.  On January 6, 2012, I lead a 7:00 pm AA meeting because one of the regular leaders didn’t make it.  I said a personal prayer, “Jesus, please help me give glory to you for the many good things that you have done for me and my family and not glorify myself.”  The meeting turned out to be filled with miracles.  First of all, there was a man who was the first to share and he mentioned that he used to go to an AA meeting at a Church in Barrington, IL on Saturday mornings (St. Ann’s is the only church that has an AA meeting on Saturday mornings).  When it came time for me to speak, I asked him if the name of the church was St. Ann’s.  With a surprised look on his face, he said, “Why, yes.”  I told him that I used to go to that meeting in Illinois—what are the odds that two people at a small AA meeting in Indiana went to the very same meeting in Illinois?  I also asked him if he knew a Mike M, who was a very good friend of mine.  After the meeting I asked the man if he had ever gone to the Palatine Club in the Chicago area.  He said, “Why, yes.  In fact I lead a meeting at the Palatine Club.” I asked him, “Which one?”  He said, “The Tuesday night 7:00 pm meeting.”  I said to him that 3 guys, including myself, started that meeting—because all the other meetings in the area started at 8:30 pm, it was very hard to get people to go to that meeting.  For a year the 3 of us would show up—rarely would the number at the meeting be greater than 5.  But on our first anniversary the meeting exploded to 40 people and within the month several other 7:00 pm meetings were started.  Again, what are the odds of meeting someone in a small group in Indiana that went to two different meetings (one of which three of my friends and I started) in Illinois. 

 

36.        Miracle of making needed meeting for the week in Israel.  Forty years ago, at my first fifth step, I promised my sponsor, Les, that I would not go more than a week without making a meeting—Les, claimed that that was how so many alcoholics go back to drinking—missing one meeting, then two, etc.  In the forty years of my sobriety, I have missed 3 meetings in 3 weeks (twice because of having a body temperature of more than 103 degrees, and once because I was in Jerusalem on Easter Sunday).  On our Christian Pilgrimage (June of 2012), it was the 7th day of the trip and I was fearful I would break my promise to Les.  Chris and I were in beautiful Tiberias and were walking to an ATM that we were familiar with in the city.  As we were walking, two of the people from our pilgrimage group were walking behind us and out of desperation I shouted out to them: “Do you people know anything about Bill Wilson or Doctor Bob?  The woman said that she was in AA and her father, walking beside her, was in Alanon!  We had a meeting on the spot!  Later, I calculated the time zones and discovered that at the exact time that we were having our meeting, my regular meeting in Indiana was taking place!

 

37.        Miracle of making church in Jerusalem.  On Saturday, the day before the night we were to come back to the states from Israel, we asked at the desk of the hotel in Jerusalem if there were any churches available on Saturday night.  The clerk seemed very knowledgeable and gave us the directions to get to a church in Old Jerusalem.   The enemy attacked us in several ways (threats and delays), but we managed to get to the church at the prescribe time services were to begin.  The church was closed.  We really felt bad.  The next morning, Sunday, Chris and I took a cab to Old Jerusalem to visit the Church of Gethsemane.  As we walked into the church, services began—thank, you Jesus!  He rewarded us for our efforts!

 

38.        Miracle of seeing the number ‘7’.  During the night of October 14, 2012, being almost 72 years old, I had to relieve myself three times and then again in the morning when I got up.  Every time I looked at the clock, the numbers on the clock would add up to 7.  The number seven is very dear to me—I was born on the Seventh of January, and the Bible speaks about the number 7 as being a very good number.  When I see the number seven on the clock, or any other time, I take it as a special gift from God, saying, “I love you, Bill.”  

 

39.        Miracles help fix Chrissy’s Car.  After Chrissy’s car’s electronic system went down with about 200 wires that had gone bad, Jesus helped me fix the care in about 3 weeks.

 

40.        Palatine Miracle.   After a very stressful drive from Zionsville, IN, to Palatine, IL (and some dread going to the Club) we arrived at the Thanksgiving Dinner sponsored by the Club.  The first words out of Peter, the host, were, “Praise, Jesus.”  Originally, there were only two people at the Club when we arrived:  Peter and Christopher.  I felt so grateful to the Father for the Christian Greeting.

 

41.        Employment Location of Patrick Miracle.  On December 2, 2013, I sent Patrick, my son, our Itinerary for the Christmas Holidays in Orlando, FL.  Of all the thousands of motels and hotels in the Orlando area, the Itinerary that Chris and I planned in Zionsville, IN, is where Patrick works.  Chris, Patrick, and I were totally surprised at our selection.  Thank you, Jesus.

 

42.        Miracle at Mary Queen Of The Universe, Orlando, FL. – On New Year’s Day, January 1, 2014, Chris and I went to the Basilica Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine (MQU) for the 11:30 am Mass in Orlando, Florida.  Just as mass was starting a family of four came in toward our pew and sat down right behind us.  I noticed “Indiana” on the father’s jacket and told the mother (Linda) that we are from Zionsville, Indiana.  The daughter sitting closest to me, I started talking to her and told her (Megan) that our daughter goes to IU, and is a senior there.  Megan told me that she is a junior at IU.  I was really moved by this “coincidence.”  What are the odds of meeting people from home 1000 miles from home in the next pew in a packed church?”  We asked Megan to locate Chrissy and to tell her that we met Megan in Orlando at Mary Queen of the Universe and that we miss her.  Megan replied and said she will locate Chrissy.  I cried out of joy because a family from Indiana, who live 1,000 miles away, sat next to us in a church in Orlando, Florida.  I thank you, Father in Jesus’ name.

 

43.        Twosome AA Meeting at the old Westside Clubhouse in Indianapolis with Terry. – On March 27, 2014, with 40+ years of sobriety, I was going to the Westside 10:30 a.m. meeting and for reasons I will not go into, was full of fear and trepidation (yes, some people with long term sobriety sometimes do fear going to a meeting, but hopefully, they realize then is when they really need a meeting).   On the way to the meeting I was praying and remembering what my sponsor told me 40 years ago:  “Fear is a boogie man.  Stand up to him and he will run away.” I knew that I had to face fear, as I had done so many times before, by practicing His Presence.  When I got to the club, it was padlocked.  The first thing I did was laugh and joke with my Higher Power:  “You really have a sense of humor.” Remembering something else my sponsor had told me 40 years ago, “It only takes two (2) to have an AA meeting,” I smiled and started looking for a fellow-AAer.  At a house near the club there was a car parked and inside the house the light was on.  I knocked on the door, and a really nice guy, Terry answered it.  After a while, I asked him if he was in AA and he said, “Yes.”  I said, “Did you ever hear of a man named Clarence Snyder?”  He said, “Yes.”  I told him that Clarence was my sponsor—later, we both agreed that Clarence had held the first AA meeting ever held.  Remembering the “two rule,” I asked him if he would say the Lord’s Prayer with me to make it an official meeting and he said, “Sure.”  What a great guy!  I hope you are reading this, Terry!  Please contact me if you have any problems with my explanation of how the daily 10th step is done—it is only found in this site--it has helped keep me sober for at least the last 30 years out of 40+.  It is in the Discussion of Tenth Steps which is in “How it Works” (my adjusted copy of the Big Book).

 

 

PRAYERS USED: Morning, Daily, Night, and Trouble Sleeping