What is an Atheist? I believe in a God/ Higher Power -call it the energy of the universe which is ever being investigated and we learn a tiny bit more every year - BUT I don't believe in the God of the Bible or the writings of it's writers - I have done much of research on Moses, Hell, Sodom and Gamora and found it quite enlightening - you might also.
In my first years of Church and Biblical studies 30 yrs ago I found a loving forgiving God but over the years I have found the flaws in that thinking - it went to learning and living a lifestyle I never knew how to -I no longer liked my old lifestyle of a drunk, lyer , c***t, thief and womanizer - 30 yrs in AA including 12 yrs as a mens leader in Celebrate Recovery give my the experience to which I prefer to live by today.

Thanks, GC. As difficult as it has been, others have it worse. I only used our situation to show that in difficult trials like we've been through, the only way to make it is to depend upon God. Those four hours we spent wondering whether our son would die, be a vegetable, or severely impaired was probably the most difficult period that I've ever been through. We were spared, but others are not. For a short period I came close to understanding what that loss can feel like and it's terrible. I have friends who have lost children. They will never reveal the intensity of their grief, but having been through those four hours, I glimpsed what it would be like. I know the only way through something like that is one's faith in God.

Tex....Miracles are to authenticate the messenger of God. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. It's why I don't expect that type of miracle today.

May I ask why you didn't say "jobs?" Yes, there are many challenges to life. When my son was twelve he came down with endocarditis. Because he also had something going on with pain in his abdomen, his pediatrician missed it for three weeks until he put him in Children's Hospital where they diagnosed it and started treating it right away. However, a few days later, a piece of the infection broke off and went up to his head and he had a stroke. I was with him at the time. Why was my son born with a heart condition that led to this? For that matter, why did we have two daughters who were born deaf? For four hours they could not get a pain threshold on my son's left side. It was the most intense four hours I have ever spent. I've never prayed so hard. Fortunately for us all, when they intubated him he started thrashing around with all fours. His cardio-thoracic surgeon decided to go in that night and scrape out the infection so it would not break off again. He was a sick kid for a couple more months, but fortunately there was no serious damage. Eventually, at 25, however, he had to have his aortic valve and ascending aorta replaced. If you sit and talk with hii you can hear his heart thumping. It bothers the heck out of him and he really can't elevate his heart rate through exercise or it beats the heck out of his chest. Between our girls and my son we've gone through a lot. But our faith has always been with God. Through a lot of hard work, both of our girls have their Master's degrees. My oldest daughter turned out to be gifted and graduated from the University of Michigan. My younger daughter worked her butt off and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.S. My son is working as an MRI Tech. My point is, that when difficult things in life come along, God is the Person to turn to for strength, no matter what happens. We could not have made it through all of this without Him. I cannot relate to you what the grief is like to find out your daughter, four months old, is deaf. And then that your second daughter is also. It was a grief that jusst did not go away.