Christians believe that anything is possible with God. But what if you’re not Christian? Can God still do amazing things in a person’s life if they don’t believe in God? My answer is yes. I know this because someone who I loved very much experienced the love of God when he was sure God didn’t exist.

Some people saw Brad Manning as a scientist, a comedian, an alcoholic, a mental patient, an atheist, a person with depression, a person with OCD, and even a person who tried to commit suicide multiple times. He may have had a lot of issues, but the people closest to him knew that he had a good heart. Even with all of the problems in his life, he took his role as a father seriously. The only thing he didn’t take seriously was the existence of his Heavenly Father. This man was my dad.

One night when I was seven years old, in the midst of chaos in the house and divorce papers being thrown across the kitchen, my dad left the house in an outrage and swore he would never come back. He left with a garbage bag full of clothes, all of the alcohol, and a pack of cigarettes. I don’t know where he went that night, but he eventually moved into an apartment.

Two years later, both of my parents were happily separated. They were on good terms with each other and they actually became good friends. As long as my mom didn’t mention her religion, my dad liked being around my her. She had nagged him to go to church for years but he thought the idea of a higher power was stupid. In the end, my mom would always end up going to church by herself. But one night a miracle happened. My dad actually picked up a Bible. And he read the whole thing in three days.
I’m not sure why he decided to become religious after he spent so many years practicing atheism, but he told me, “Steph, there’s gonna be a time in your life when you’re gonna feel something…something big… something so incredibly amazing that you wont know what it is. I felt that. And after thinking about it for a while, I realized that it was God.” He didn’t say anything religious to me after that. He knew that I couldn’t understand something so indescribable at nine years old. So when he started going to church and being a better person, my mom let him live in the house again. My parents even decided to call off the divorce.

When my dad got saved, he became a completely different person. He conquered his addiction to alcohol and took control over his depression and OCD. On July 4, 2005 my Dad went to heaven. People said that my father would never become a Christian. But God proved them wrong. He proved me wrong too. I swore I’d never become a Christian either. After my dad died, I decided that I needed God more than anything. As a Christian, I believe God can do anything, even if you believe He can’t.