Michelle Simpson's SCwSG Testimony!

An Amazing Encounter with God

I was expecting an amazing encounter with God, the weekend of October 11-14, 2007. The National Day of Prayer Task Force Prayer Summit was being held in Colorado Springs, CO.  I had finally surrendered to God, after years of arguing with Him, and agreed to become a local coordinator for the National Day of Prayer.  I was overwhelmed and under qualified, but God had provided the means for me to attend the Summit and get some much needed training.  This was my first trip to Focus on the Family headquarters and I had already planned what I would go see on our break; Whit’s End!  Whit’s End was closed so I opted for my second choice, the book store. God had a plan, a Divine appointment as He always does!

As I wandered around mentally making my wish list, out of the corner of my eye I saw a beautiful, vibrant young lady with the light of Christ radiating from her. She was motoring around the bookstore in her wheelchair. Instantly I was drawn to her. Drawing closer I noticed a soft-grey, doe-eyed Italian Greyhound on her lap. My heart leapt at the thought of making two new friends, one human and one canine! I introduced myself and asked this Spirit-filled lady if she was here for the Prayer Summit. She was not there for the Prayer Summit; her name was Dr. Diane Dike, I learned that she had a rare, incurable blood disease that caused her blood to become very thick when she got cold, so God had provided her Italian Greyhound, named Gracie, to provide warmth and service for her. She had just written a children’s book, The Adventures of Gracie and Diane; Gracie Comes Home. It was the story of how God sent Gracie to her. Touched and wanting to share the story, I purchased two of her books, from her, to give as gifts to family members.

Fast forward to two years later and the 2009 National Day of Prayer Task Force Prayer Summit, I was excited to be returning to pray for our Nation, military, families, clergy, media, businesses, and education with prayer warriors from around the country once again. I had never forgotten the Divine encounter from two years before, and I continued to pray for Dr. Diane Dike, but I truly never expected to see or hear from her ever again. God had a wonderful surprise, as I visited with my prayer mentor and good friend, Annette Frizen, Diane rolled by.  Annette encouraged me to go up and say “Hi”.  I was sure she would not remember me and was very reluctant to go, but the building up of a fantastic Godly friend can do wonders for one’s courage! Timidly I spoke to Diane. To my surprise and delight she remembered me and seemed genuinely excited to see me and reconnect. I found out that she was one of the guest speakers and had a booth set up. Throughout the weekend we visited; I adjusted my schedule to attend her break out session. As the weekend drew to a close, Diane gave me her email address and asked me to contact her. Brimming with self-confidence and having great faith in my fellow man, I gave her my email address and told her to contact me. I had been down this road a time or two and did not expect to ever hear from her again.

About a month after returning home from the prayer summit a message from an email I did not recognize showed up in my inbox. It was a personal message from Diane! We began to correspond and became friends. As I prayed about our National Day of Prayer event God kept prompting me to ask Diane to be our keynote speaker. May I say that I had looked into other famous Christian people to come to our tiny little community and the cost was astronomical! With God’s urging I did, finally, broche the subject of Diane’s availability to speak and the cost to bring her here with little hope of it being a reality. (You can clearly see God has had to do more than a little work on me in the trust department!) Not only was Diane available but she was more than willing to work with us on the cost! Not only would she and Gracie come but with her enthusiasm she was able to convince me that I could step out of my comfort zone and approach our schools, libraries, and civic organizations to have her speak there and that way the cost could be defrayed among several groups. To make a long story short, Diane came as our keynote speaker, spoke at our middle school, at three churches and taught a class to our emergency medical responders.

Diane’s energy and enthusiasm have helped me to believe I can be all God created me to be! As the Prayer Team Leader at Second Chance with Saving Grace, I am helping others understand the importance of prayer, Bible study and the importance of building a close personal relationship with God!  I am now a true believer that all things are possible with Christ who lives in me!