Theodore M. Stuckey - Finding Calm: In the Storm of Everyday Living

F INDING C ALM

F INDING C ALM

In the Storms of Daily Living

Have the struggles of daily living and sense of real meaning and purpose in your life left you? Do you feel lost and filled with fear, doubt, and uncertainty about your future? Let me share my lifelong struggles and inspire you to turn to the Lord to find true happiness, joy and peace, and hope for a better future.

Theodore M. Stuckey

2018 Theodore M. Stuckey

Finding Calm

In the Storms of Daily Living

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018944796

ISBN 978-1-595558039 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-595557834 (Hardbound)

ISBN 978-1-595558091 (eBook)

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C ONTENTS

This book is dedicated to my beloved wife, Connie, who passed away on November 30, 2015 due to pancreatic cancer. She was fifty-eight years old. She had numerous health issues including diabetes, fibro-myalgia, neuropathy, hydrocephalus, Crohns, and multiple herniated discs in her back, which were too numerous to operate on. She had four major brain surgeries and was unable to work. She was in constant pain and needed pain medication, which honestly didnt help a great deal.

She was on hospice and through their loving care, she remained completely pain-free for the last thirty days of her life. Her devoted faith in God is what kept her going and kept her strong right up to her very last breath. She knew what was awaiting her and longed to be with her loving, caring heavenly Father. She was ready to be accepted into his loving arms.

She planned her entire funeral service with scripture that was dear to her heart. She had a closeness with God and wanted everyone to hear her final farewell and leave us all with a loving powerful message.

W e had such a close, caring, loving relationship, although I was a nonbeliever in God and she was a strong faithful believer. She never pushed or demanded that I become a believer. On occasion I went with her to church, not so much for me but for my love for her.

She accepted me the way I was and I am sure she prayed that one day I would see the light and come to the Lord. Because I was hurting and in pain from losing her, I made a commitment to start reading some of her Christian devotionals and books to see if that would help heal the hurt inside.

I also did some praying, mostly the Lords Prayer and the Lord Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace prayer found in one of her books. I also read and used the Serenity Prayer and would read the words from scripture she requested for her service.

The other thing I did was start asking her for forgiveness since I was away from home a great deal as an over-the-road truck driver. I had lost a job as a field manager in the satellite industry several years earlier and at age sixty wasnt able to find a job, so I became a truck driver.

I kept reading for over 15 months and then one day while driving through Wisconsin, Gods Grace happened to me. It was the most glorious thing that has ever happened to me. My whole body and my heart was filled with a warm radiant glow and I felt the Lords presence within me.

It was an explosion of a thousand lightbulbs going off in my head, and a joy, an exhilaration beyond words. I was ecstatic, excited, and most of all in reverent awe. I was like a little child come Christmas morning to see all those wonderful presents under the tree. Tears rolled down my eyes and it was at that moment that I became a true believer in God the Father almighty and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

It was April 2017 that this amazing journey of mine started. From that moment on I have not stopped thinking about, meditating on, praying and reading Gods holy words of truth. Revelation after revelation is being presented to me now on a daily basis and I just cant seem to get enough of His message. His never-ending Love, Grace, Mercy and the many blessings He abundantly pours out to us just leaves me speechless.

My prayer life is as an Indy 500 formula race car on high-octane fuel running at full throttle. I am on an amazing journey, and He has put me on a path that is hard to explain. His presence and His grace have given me a peace and a calm unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life.

He has called me to write this book so that through my lifes struggles as a nonbeliever, I can hopefully inspire other lost souls to live a more satisfying and peaceful life through Jesus Christ.

Its as though Christ has prepared me all my life to spread His words of truth and give hope to others in living a better way, a better life, and having a better future.

For as Jesus said in John 14:6: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me.

I am sixty-six years old and a man of very modest means. I dont have a lot of money, dont have a large nest egg to fall back on, still have a mortgage to pay off, and still need to work to pay all my bills just like many of us. While most people my age are looking to retire, I am just discovering my real purpose in life. My struggles and experiences that I will share can hopefully shed some light on how you can lead a more satisfying fulfilled life through Christ.

As a nonbeliever for over fifty-three years, having never once read the Bible or prayed, I wasnt aware of the knowledge, the truth, and the wisdom contained in the words of God. As a nonbeliever, I still considered myself a Christian because I did attend church and knew about God but never felt the need to get to know God. Just somehow never was really convinced or had the conviction to truly believe what was said during church services.

I grew up in a small Midwest town in Nebraska, went to Sunday school, church, was in Boy Scouts, and participated in sports. I learned right from wrong, honesty, how to treat others and how to work hard, respect others, and how to get along with other people, how to share and how to be a responsible person. I just didnt make the connection with God in my life: other things simply seemed much more important at the time. If there is anything I can get you to understand as a person who is struggling with their life, it is this: Get to know God and His loving ways starting today, and your life will forever change unlike anything you can possibly imagine!