garrettsgirl: IYC? anything like CIY (if you ever heard of it) I have been to CIY before but never heard of IYC (possible misspelling?)
I have somewhat of a testimony to share as well.
I grew up in a christian home. I had an older brother who was 7 yrs older than me. he was born with Cerebral Palsy (its a disorder that affects the brains ability to coordinate movement of muscles.. this includes not only arms legs etc but also digestive muscles, vocal cords, etc so digestion is slow and theres very little bowel control, and speech is hard to understand. sometimes CP can also result in mental retardation... I dont think that was the case in my brother however.) he was NOT paralyzed or anything. Just couldn't control enough to be able to stand, etc.
He had to use a wheelchair to get anywhere because he wasnt able to stand on his feet without help. He had to have all these special devices like shower chair, etc and had to wear diapers. He needed to be lifted into and out of bed. He needed constant assistance from someone.
We (my family) was proud of him because he was able to go to normal regular ed school (he was originally in special ed but my mom was able to bail him out of that cuz he could do things, just didn't have the means to express them. (he couldn't write) We were thankful to God also, because he wasn't expected to live at birth (he was born with an infection, this caused the brain damage which caused CP.) However he came out alright.
On February 11th, 1995 my mom and dad went to get him out of bed. He wasn't breathing, he had no pulse. We called 911 and the ambulance came, etc but there was nothing they could do for him. He was pronounced dead that day.
The autopsy came back saying "Cause of death unknown."
We couldn't think of anything either, his health was perfect. His death was a fluke, more or less, without reason.
However we finally came to a conclusion. This conclusion was that God took him to Heaven to be with Him, to save him from the earth and his broken body.
The Bible tells us that Christians will be kept on earth until they have fulfilled God's purpose, and then they will die. (This reminds me of a man that was very active in my church. He was one of the greatest Christians that I knew and was never ashamed to talk about God. He died about 2 months ago in a freak motorcycle accident. He was only 37 (I think))
However, after my brothers death I sort of doubted God. I thought, "WHY did you have to let this happen?" I became less of a christian. I listened to satanic music, and would talk about drugs and sex with my friends all the time.
More recently however, I've realized a need for God and have begun to come back to Him (which has not been easy)
I'm very glad to be able to share my testimony.
