God Spoke to Me; Or did He?

Christmas of 2006 found me reading a local newspaper article about a young girl in Mexico that wanted to come to the United States to get her education. I was very touched by her words and the photograph that showed tears running down her face. I had just finished reading the all time best seller, Purpose Driven Life, written by Pastor Rick Warren and his words about the ‘Stewardship of Influence & Affluence’ still reverberated in my mind.

I was overcome with the strangest feeling of my life, a feeling that God was...

inside my heart speaking to me. No, I didn’t hear His voice but I could neither deny His presence, nor the resulting influence He would have on me. This was the only time in my life that I had experienced such a feeling but there was no doubt in my mind that it was genuine.

Within three weeks of having that experience, I was in a small Mexican village speaking with the young girl and her family about my willingness to bring her to America. Six days later she and I departed an airplane at Roanoke Airport and walked across the snow-covered ground to be greeted by my wife and driven to Pearisburg where we reside.

As difficult as were the various obstacles to be overcome in order for the young girl to be allowed to leave Mexico and accompany me to the United States, they were nothing when compared to the American bureaucracy that we would encounter during the next six months. Time and space preclude me from providing all of the details of our nightmare of experiences but I will attempt to provide enough to help you understand our ordeal.

My wife and I were required to go before the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court to seek legal and physical custody of our new house guest. She was born in the United States and had been taken to Mexico to live with “in-law relatives” since the age of six. Therefore, she was already an American citizen and I thought this would expedite the process of gaining legal custody but I was very wrong. The court appointed a Guardian ad Litum, attorney Christopher Tuck of Blacksburg, to represent the girl’s interests in the custody matter.

The first court hearing was held in February 2007 and these hearings continued every couple of months during the time the girl was with us. I had no idea that those months would expose me to an all out attack by the attorney on my character and reputation. I certainly hadn’t led a sheltered life but I also had never been a terrible human being as I would be depicted by the attorney. This character assassination when coupled with the bureaucracy of Social Services proved to be more than my wife and I could justify enduring, thus ending our quest to become legal guardians and continue to make it possible for the young girl to receive her education in the United States.

My next mistake was to assume that attacks on me from the Guardian ad Litum attorney were now a thing of the past. In October 2009 I reported for jury duty at the Giles County Circuit Court. Attorney Christopher Tuck, the Guardian ad Litum, was the defense attorney for the case being heard and he objected to me serving on the jury because he stated that he didn’t think I would be objective in deciding innocence versus guilt in the case. In front of the presiding judge, Commonwealth Attorney and about ten other persons attending the inquiry by the judge, Mr. Tuck began a verbal assassination of my character in an attempt to discredit me before the judge. I disavowed any truth in claims that I wouldn’t be an objective juror and although the judge was professional and courteous, he dismissed me from the jury pool.

The preceding negative experiences bring me to the question of whether God truly spoke to me in the first place. My spiritual side says yes, but I apparently have a weaker side that says no because God wouldn’t expose me to all of the hell I endured at the expense of an overly possessed and aggressive attorney and our social system of care and justice. I don’t know that I will ever know the answer to this question but I can truthfully say that if ever again I feel the voice of God, I will give it much thought before leaping into the unknown. Possibly, there will be future rewards and punishments for the principles involved in this true life experience but that thought alone does little or nothing to answer my question.

I would like to hear your thoughts regarding whether or not you think God spoke to me. Maybe you would like to share your experiences with the courts, Social Services, and Guardian ad Litum attorney’s.