Michele Wilson:
CLASS OF 1983
Brookland-Cayce High SchoolClass of 1983
Cayce, SC
Michele's Story
I married Scott Wilson (BC Grad 80)in 1984. Ryan was born in 1988 and Tyler in 1991. Although I was born into a Christian home, I was never told that God directs us through His word the Holy Bible. I discovered this from the lady whom we purchased a home from in 1995. She explained to me that she knew she was to move because God directed her in her Bible to do so. WOW!!! I went home and began praying and asking God if this was the home we were to purchase because it had an in-ground pool and I was concerned for my two young son's safety. As I was reading through the book of John, I read in John on the left page "you may go your son will live". I didn't yet see anything about a pool and so I looked over to the right page and my eyes landed in the middle of the page to the word POOL. John 5 heading in large print said The Healing At The Pool. I knew I had just experienced for the first time ever God speaking directing my path in life through His word the Holy Bible. I had been a Christian for over 15 years, but never knew that God directs the paths we are to take in life through our reading His Word the Bible. After this one experience, I began a hunger for the word of God like never before.
Indeed, we purchased the home, but only lived there 6 months. Although we knew through much prayer that we weren't to leave, my husband said "we have nothing to loose" and chose to take the job in SC anyway.
We moved to Greenville, SC in September, 1995. Over the next few months I really began questioning God as to where he was at. He felt so very far away. It seemed to me that I didn¿t feel His presence or hear Him while reading my Bible. I began asking Him daily where He was at and if I had left Him behind in Rocky Mount.
January 12, 1996 started off like any other day in a busy household with two little boys. My husband was off to work, but the kids were out of school because of the big snow storm we had. I took the boys on an ice covered steep hill in a new subdivision where homes were being built. We enjoyed the afternoon sledding down the hill. After a couple of hours, I suggested that we leave and go home for supper. Ryan (7 years old) asked if he and Tyler (4 years old) could go down the hill just one more time. I told them sure and stood at the bottom of the hill with my camcorder on my shoulder preparing to tape their last trip down the hill, when much to my surprise a car came over the top of the hill. Words cannot tell you what I saw and felt at that moment. My son Tyler was sitting in the middle of the road on a sheet of ice and tried numerous times to get up, but his feet kept sliding out from under him causing him to sit back down in the sled. I never took my eyes off Tyler. I was screaming from the bottom of the hill as he was at the top of it, telling him to move or the car would run over him. Although I could see the driver turning the wheels of the car trying to miss Tyler, the driver was unsuccessful because again the car had no traction, but was on a sheet of ice. I remembered seeing Tyler in the center of the path of the car. The car ran over the sled and drug it down the hill and the sled went in a man whole under the curve of the street at the bottom of the hill. Again, I never took my eyes off Tyler until the car ran over the sled and he never walked across the ice because every attempt he made to do so failed as he fell right back down on his bottom in the sled. After the sled went under the street I witnessed Tyler sitting at the top of the hill on the side of the street untouched and unharmed. Again, I never saw Tyler walk that ice. As I began my journey up the hill, screaming and crying, I heard these words inside my chest I just saved your sons life because if she would have run over him she would have killed him. Immediately I was reminded that this was actually an answer to my prayer in that for four months prior to this incident I had been praying daily asking God where He was at and if I had left Him back in Rocky Mount because God felt so far away. I have learned through this experience that we often walk away from God, but He never will leave us. The last words I remembered hearing as I crawled up that ice covered hill screaming and crying trying to reach my son is Never will I leave you and never will I forsake you. I have not found the words, and never will, to express my gratitude and thanksgiving to God for saving my sons life that day.
God began directing me in my Bible in Greenville, SC that I was to move home. Home was Columbia, SC. I had been married and living in NC for over 10 years and often thought it would be great to live in Greenville or Columbia and God allowed me to live both places to show me that I would not be happy there, but only where He wanted me and in the center of His will for my life.
After arriving in Columbia, SC and building a home that took seven months to complete, a great thing took place. As I was standing in the dining room, unpacking boxes, I cried out to God and told Him how miserable we all were and that if he would open any door, I would surely walk through it, leaving all behind. Leaving all behind would include my parents, sisters, brother-n-laws, nieces and many friends. You see, Columbia, SC was my hometown. I was born there and lived there for 19 years until my wedding day. Although as I prayed this prayer I thought we would be moving up North and with a new company, God did something totally different. The phone rang one morning about a week after I had prayed. The gentleman on the other end of the phone was the man who hired my husband many years ago with the company that my husband had left in Rocky Mount to move to SC. He explained that he had been transferred to Austin, Texas and was interested in hiring my husband to come to Texas to work. Wow! I had never even been on an airplane much less traveled half way across the USA. I had only lived in SC and NC, but had traveled to VA and GA on vacations. I began to really pray and study my Bible about this opportunity to move to Austin. Sure enough I knew this was God¿s will for our lives as He directed me in Jeremiah 29:14 I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, declares the Lord, and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile. We had moved six times since selling our first home and believe me it was exile! I also immediately read in Jeremiah 31:17 So there is hope for your future, declares the Lord. Your children will return to their own land. I knew before leaving for Austin that one day I would be moving back to Rocky Mount, NC because this was my boys homeland and where they were born.
In May, 1997 we drove to Austin, Texas from Columbia, SC. The journey was about 21 hours and was tough with two small boys. We finally made it after driving all night. It was just about dark when we arrived there. The next morning I found a F5 tornado was headed straight to Austin. The boys and I were scared to death. We huddled together in the laundry room and was singing hymns and praying to God to keep us safe. God is good and spared our lives. There were 27 killed within 30 miles of us. Five were killed in one family.
After two years in Austin, the news I had been waiting for since leaving Rocky Mount four years earlier finally came. We were moving back to Rocky Mount, NC. I knew this because of the study of Gods word the morning of the same day that the call with the job offer came. I was the happiest girl in the world. I missed Rocky Mount so bad and told God for four years if He would just take me back home to Rocky Mount that I would never leave again.
The van lines pulled into Rocky Mount with all my belongings including two vehicles. I was glad we were able to fly because the thought of 21 hours in the car again wasn¿t to appealing to me. I could hardly believe I was finally back home. I remembered sharing with many my praying to God four years to come back home to Rocky Mount and God had answered my prayer.
There was something else that I had been praying fervently for over 10 years for and that was a baby girl named Caroline. On June 19, 1999 (just three months after moving back to Rocky Mount) I prayed that morning and specifically asked God confirm in His word to me that He was going to give me my baby girl. After praying, I opened my Bible and it fell opened to Psalms 87:5 and I read ¿This one and that one were born in her, and the Most High Himself will establish her¿. This one and that one were my boys and God promised me that he was going to create my baby girl. Three months later I went to the doctor and a pregnancy test confirmed that I was pregnant and due on June 19 (the same date God confirmed in His Word the Bible that He was going to give me a girl). I returned to the Doctor at eight weeks pregnant. The doctor told me that 1 in 4 pregnancies ended in a miscarriage. I was upset and went home and began reading in the book of John. I read in John 15: 16 you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last. I knew my baby would live and not miscarry.
Caroline McKinney Wilson was born in June and what a thrilling time in my life this was. I had wondered for 10 years what she would look like and she was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. Caroline had colic for three months and these were very hard times for us both. I experienced terrible post partum blues. With not having a baby in 10 years and being used to going where I wanted to go and doing what I wanted to do, you can say life changed a bit when little miss Caroline arrived. It got much better after three months and the colic was over. I really enjoyed the lacy socks, hair bows and dresses that I hadn¿t been able to enjoy with boys. We...Expand for more
were all enjoying her.
One day, when Caroline was about one year old, I began praying and asking God if I was to have another baby. He immediately confirmed in Luke 13:8 that He had plans to fertilize me. Although my husband (an intelligent engineer) told me that birth control would keep that from happening, I¿m here to tell you that nothing can stop God¿s plan. Indeed, Mackenzie was born three years after Caroline just like God had promised. Mackenzie was diagnosed at UNC Chapel Hill Hospital with a deletion in her chromosome. We were told that she would either be mentally retarded, in wheel chair or developmentally delayed. I will never forget sitting in the waiting room in the hospital with my baby in my arms in shock as my husband went to get the car in the parking lot. I remember I had my little New Testament in my purse and pulled in out and prayed asking God what was going on. He immediately directed me to a passage that said take courage and do not fear. From that day forward my prayer was that Mackenzie would be able to go to normal school when she reached kindergarten age. To God be all the glory that Mackenzie started kindergarten in fall 2008 in normal public schools. She wasn¿t mentally retarded and will never be in a wheel chair, but just had speech delays and is almost caught up with her peers.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has affected our family and it may have done the same in your family. OCD is a chemical imbalance in the brain and over 3 million people have it. It is a doubting disease for many sufferers and for others it can cause you to be a cleaning fanatic. I suffered tremendously for over 15 years before I knew this fearful disease had a name. In 1996 God did a great healing in my life. I had suffered for over two years with repeating phrases over and over in my mind all day long and couldn¿t stop. I went to doctors in Chapel Hill, NC, Greenville, SC and Columbia, SC with no resolution to this problem. As I listened to a minister preaching on the radio I heard the verse in Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Immediately God melted the chains of bondage off me and never again did I suffer from repeating phrases.
In December, 1999 I had a dream about a man I did not know personally but had seen a few times. His name was Jack and he had worked at my husbands employment for over 25 years. In my dream I got off the elevator at our local hospital on the cancer ward floor and spoke with Jacks fiancé and the nurse asking them which room was Jack in. I was there because I knew he was lost and I needed to share Jesus Christ with him before he died. They told me he had already died. I started screaming ¿no, no, no because he died without Jesus as his Lord and Savior and would now spend eternity in hell. When awakened from this dream I knew it was more than a dream and that I must find Jack. I told my husband about the dream, but he didn¿t take it too seriously. One day (about 2 weeks after my dream) my husband was at work about 30 minutes away from Rocky Mount. A young man walked by my husband¿s office and asked my husband if he ever knew Jack because my husband and Jack both had previously been employed by the same company in Rocky Mount years earlier. My husband confirmed that he knew him. He explained to my husband that Jack was in the hospital in Rocky Mount and was dying of cancer. My husband knew we needed to go immediately. When we came into Jack¿s room I was quite shocked at how bad Jack looked. I really believe in my heart that God allowed him to hang on a little longer to allow my husband and me to get there to him to share the gospel with him. We did just that and Jack prayed the sinner¿s prayer asking Jesus into his heart. I could hardly believe the change that took place in this man immediately after his praying. When we came into his room we found a man who was very irritable and requesting prayer for physical healing. I knew that wasn¿t what I was there for because again God showed me in my dream that I was there to share Jesus Christ with this lost man so he could repent and be saved before he died. After Jack prayed to receive Jesus in his heart I saw the most beautiful change in this man. Instead of being irritable he was just crying out to Jesus repeatedly saying ¿Jesus, help me Jesus¿. Although I¿m sure Jack wanted to stay longer here I know that when he died exactly seven days later and went to Heaven with Jesus he never wanted to return here to this earth. Isn¿t this amazing that God would allow a person on earth to have a dream so that a lost person who had not lived at all for Jesus all their life could be saved and spend eternity with Jesus in the same Heaven as Billy Graham and others who lived their entire life serving God? This just shows you the desire of God is that all would be saved. This is confirmed in the scripture in 1 Timothy 2:4 who wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
God has done so many marvelous things for me in my lifetime. We actually moved 15 times between 1994 and 2006. Although I never want to be out of the Will of God, I do thank Him that when we do take a path in life that isn¿t His plan he will put us back on track if we just pray and ask him to. He did this for me after my leaving Rocky Mount in 1995. I had to move many times (from South Carolina to Texas) but still God brought me back to Rocky Mount where I know He wanted me. I share my personal testimony with you today because Isaiah 12:4-5 reads ¿Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what He has done and proclaim that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world¿.
Remember, I promised God that if He would bring me back to Rocky Mount that I would never leave again? Well it turned out that it was His Will was for me to leave Rocky Mount seven years later. You may be asking ¿how do you know that¿ and I am glad you asked!!! I only knew this through the reading of my Bible. My husband had interviewed for a manager's job twice in Raleigh and twice was declined the position. Although we had already sold our home in Rocky Mount and all of my family wanted to still move to Raleigh and have my husband drive a small commute to work in Zebulon, I refused thinking if God wanted me in Raleigh He would have given my husband the job he interviewed for twice in Raleigh. I was firm on the decision that I would not move to Raleigh until one morning I got up and prayed asking God what did he want me to do. I knew immediately when I opened the Word and read "QUICK LEAVE JERUSELUM IMMEDIATELY" what I was to do. After fighting this move and saying I would never leave Rocky Mount again, by lunch that same day I was packed up in boxes. My family couldn't believe the change in my mind about the move that I had fault so hard against. When I arrived in Raleigh and was unpacking boxes I reminded God that I had done what he told me to do and that I wanted Him to do His part and give my husband the job here in Raleigh. Soon after we settled in my husband was called in to interview for the same manager's job a third time and one of the questions asked in the interview was if he had relocated his family to Raleigh yet since he had shared his desire with them to do so in his previous interviews. He said "yes" and was hired. I know he would not have gotten this job if his answer would have been ¿no¿. He graduated from Clemson in 1984 and had desired to be a manager for over 22 years and this is his first ever managers job. This was such a great job that even my husband¿s boss interviewed for this position. Of course with this blessing came a pay raise, stock options and many more blessings. God is so good. All He wants is Obedience!!!
In closing, I leave you with two questions: 1) if you were to die tonight do you know for sure you would go to Heaven? 2) What would be your response to God if he asked you ¿why should I let you into my Heaven¿? If you answered yes to the first question then I trust that your answer to the second question is because you at sometime in your life prayed and asked Jesus in your heart. There is no other answer because the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. If you are a Christian I hope you have been encouraged to continue reading your Bible for direction from God in your life and share with others this book and the gift of Salvation to all. If you aren¿t a Christian then I urge you to pray the sinner¿s prayer inviting Jesus in your heart. Only you and God know whether you have ever done this. One day you will stand in front of God and if you have not received him the Bible teaches you will be put in a burning hell and separated from God, your creator, forever. This decision to receive Christ is the most important decision you will ever make in your lifetime. Do not wait because we are not promised our next breath. The prayer is simple: God, I know I am a sinner and do not deserve eternal life in Heaven. I believe you sent your only son Jesus who died on a cross and rose from the grave to purchase a place in Heaven for me. God save me, come into my life; take control of my life; forgive my sins and save me from eternal judgment in Hell. I repent of my sins and now place my trust in you for my Salvation. In Jesus name, Amen.
Please get involved in local Bible believing/teaching church. Write me and tell me if you made this decision for Jesus so I can be praying for you. Also, include any other prayer requests.
God Bless You!!!
Michele Yelton Wilson
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