A New Grand Baby and More Miracles in March…

Friends! Before I share snippets from a mind-blowing book on miracles, I’d like to share some miracles (yes, plural) our little family has experienced during the month of March. First, allow me to be “one of those” grandmothers and show you pics of our newest little miracle, Baby George Garnett Hoagland, born on his due date (I see punctuality in his future) to proud parents, LT and Woody on March 7th.

March 9th was the one year anniversary of my new hip, yet another miracle. I told my most capable doc, Dr. Matt Price, I felt like my recovery was nothing short of a miracle, to which he replied, “That’s why I do this!” Loved that..

Big brother Ford, turned two March 18th. He’s standing in his new Ford, pardon me, which Poppy helped Woody assemble, another miracle and that is no lie!

Finally, our whole family celebrated Easter on Palm Sunday, and to see all the babies hunting Easter eggs took our breath away. They’re all five miracles!

So, this Holy Week, I pray you’re blessed to learn of more miracles from one of my favorite authors, Lee Strobel…Forever siding with Doubting Thomas, yet a huge fan of Lee’s writing, I grabbed his book, The Case for Miracles: A Journalist Investigates Evidence for the Supernatural.

Wow! While I could easily end this post right here and say, “Run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore and snag this book,” I wouldn’t dare do that to you without sharing a couple of quotes to show you why you must read this book.

It’s obvious from the first page that Lee’s background in journalism causes us readers to feel like we’re on this exploration of miracles right beside him, in the passenger’s seat of his car.

Stellar questions sprinkled throughout, Lee poses,

Lee answers these and many more questions in his book. He begins by defining what exactly a miracle is:

Lee proceeds to cross-examine experts, mining for answers. He bravely begins by interviewing “the most famous doubter in the country—Dr. Michael Shermer, founder and editor of Skeptic magazine.” This is found in Part One: The Case Against Miracles.

Lee admits Shermer’s office is the last place he normally would’ve landed, however in his days of being an atheist, it would’ve been a place he’d have enjoyed. I viewed it as walking into a potential lion’s den. But we readers can perch overlooking Lee’s shoulder and be ever so grateful he’s driving the interview.

Lee told Shermer upfront he wasn’t there to debate him. I confess I wanted Lee to put Shermer in his place, but hang on, we get some answers further into the book. At one point, Shermer debunks another theory of a research study on prayer, conducted at Harvard. I was upset over the findings, but later relieved at what another expert revealed about it. Oh, and you can guess, you must read the book to find out. Bada bing.

My favorite part is found in Part Two: The Case for Miracles. It’s my favorite because it holds a fantastic discovery of a real-live genius living a mere seventy-nine miles from my desk, at Asbury Theological Seminary, in Wilmore, Kentucky. Wilmore is a hop, skip, and a jump from my hometown of Lexington, Kentucky.

In Part Two, we get to meet this proficient professor and author, Dr. Craig Keener, who Lee interviews extensively. I was stunned he’s been at Asbury all this time. Reading about his volumes of books will blow you off your rocker.

Lee tweeted a picture of them together quipping, “Great time interviewing Craig Keener for a project. While we chatted, he wrote three new books.”

Keener was also an atheist. His come-to-faith story is beautiful. Lee obviously resonates with him. He and Lee teach us the difference between actual miracles and apparent miracles. (Chapter 5 – don’t miss it!) We also get a peek into numerous documented miracles.

Lee will ask you to come to your own conclusion about miracles at the end of the book. I’d be curious to hear from you when you get there. I’m so very thankful Lee took on this project, conducted extensive surveys, and interviewed so many experts. What a faith builder!

Now I can say this, “Run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore and snag this book!”

I also pray you and your family had a most Blessed Easter. “He is not here,., He is RISEN!”

‘Til next time!

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