Zach's Hope Story

February 15, 2017 2 Comments

When I was born, there was a big chance that my mother and I would not survive. My mother was in labor for 24 hours and even told my grandmother that there was a letter she wrote to me in case something were to happen and she died at childbirth. I was on the edge of death because my umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck for a long period of time. My mother passed out when she finally gave birth to me. The doctors saw that my face was blue and couldn't do anything. Then out of nowhere, I started crying and started breathing again. After a few hours, my mother was holding me. At the age of 4, I had speech capabilities of a 2 year old. Having a conversation was hard enough, but public speaking...you can forget about. My parents sent me to a speech therapist in Memphis, Tennessee and there was progress being made since day 1. In 2014, I received a superior rating in the category "short sermon" at an Assembly of God national fine arts competition in Columbus, Ohio, which is the highest superior rating you can receive. I was one of the only two participants to get a superior rating from the state of Alabama. Now, I started a ministry called ZH Youth Ministries, which allows me to speak in churches and public events. From my story, God can make the impossible become possible. My hope comes from Him!

2 Responses

Julie Hines

May 11, 2018

My husband and I drove from the Pittsburgh area to Corbin, Kentucky (7 hours) to see Tenth Avenue North in concert. I have four wonderful daughters. One of my daughters faces the challenges of autism, epilepsy and intellectual disability. Tenth Avenue North’s songs like I Have This Hope and Control provide hope to me on some very difficult days in my life. I am so grateful for this song. It reminds me that God is with me through the storms I face in this life and that I am not alone.

Deborah

April 18, 2017

I have been going through some very intense counseling with my pastor that I counsel with by phone once a week and keep in close contact through emails the rest of the week. It has taken me over nine years to start believing that no matter what Jesus is with me and he can’t let go of you. He told me that when you accepted me into your heart you became a part of me and I a part of you and that made us inseparable. I in my life have been rejected beyond anyone’s imagination due to some disabilities I have and on top of that I have suffered some abuse that should have never happened to me. And because of all of this I believed that I was unlovable and that I had to be perfect and do all the right things before God could love me. But after being in counseling with my pastor for now almost ten years It started sinking in today on April 18, 2017 that i am loved and I don’t have to be perfect. My pastor calls Jesus’s kind of love A STICKY KIND OF LOVE BECAUSE IT CAN’T BE WASHED OFF IT IS THERE FOR FOREVER and there is nothing you can do to make him not love you. Unlike human beings if you mess up and don’t do things according to their standards you are pushed away and not loved and I have experienced that numerous times in my life too many times to count. I am starting to see that I don’t have to be perfect I am allowed to make mistakes and Jesus will still love me unconditionally. WHEN I HEART THE LYRICS TO I HAVE THIS HOPE IT HIT ME SO HARD TO THE VERY CORE OF MY SOUL THAT NO MATTER WHAT KIND OF HELL ON EARTH I AM GOING THROUGH HE WILL BE WITH ME AND NOT LET GO OF ME OR MY SOUL BECAUSE HIS LOVE IS A STICKY LOVE AND IT CANNOT EVER COME OFF.