he doctors had already scheduled a follow-up visit for the next morning. He told me that my viral load was extremely high and that he needed to get it lower. Without hesitation I told him, "You are going to see a big drop." It was a month later before I would receive the results of the blood tests. During that month of waiting, I began to gain weight, my face began to clear up from the warts, and my energy was returning to normal.

A month later I returned for a scheduled doctor's appointment. The doctor shared with me the results of the viral load blood tests-the viral load had dropped from 102,820 down to 613. Although I was elated with the results, I did not need those test results to convince me that God had healed me. Everything I was experiencing in my body shouted to my inner person that God had healed me!

In a follow-up visit a month later, another viral load blood test was taken. Any trace of the AIDS virus could not be detected! The doctor was reticent to admit anything had happened. Months later his comment was, "You are extremely lucky from this medication-or this was an act of God." As the months have come and gone, my physical strength has continued to increase, my appetite has returned to normal, and I am now off all medications. Through this time my faith and trust in God have increased, and I am continuing to grow in the knowledge of His love and grace.

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As I reflect on the last fifteen years of my life, and especially the past eighteen months, I have learned so many things about who I am and who God is.

1. No person-whether gay or straight-can ever meet the deepest emotional needs in my life. Only God can meet those needs.

2. Although my family environment was filled with anger and rejection, they were not the cause of my living a homosexual lifestyle. There were many things that happened during my childhood that predisposed my moving in that direction; however, I was the one who chose to believe in and accept the gay lifestyle.

3. God never forgets the commitments that we make to Him. Although I walked away from Him, following my commitment to him in my mid-teens, God never forgot. The things that I learned during that time were retained in the innermost recesses of my mind and spirit.

4. God's ways of moving and healing cannot be explained. He is sovereign and works to accomplish His purposes.