Do you believe in God?

On 1 July 2003 a bolt from the sky hit the steeple of the First Baptist Church in the small town of Forest, Ohio, setting it ablaze. That in itself is not unusual, as lightning strikes start a number of fires every year, and lightning sometimes hits structures, including churches. (In fact, the 124-year-old Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Cecil, Ohio, burned to the ground on 21 July 2003 after lightning struck there.) But what elevates this tale above other similarly true stories is what was happening inside the church when the bolt hit.

The Rev. Don Hardman, a traveling evangelist from Virginia, was preaching to the congregation during the storm. According to the Bible, Mr. Hardman told the crowd, God's voice often sounds like thunder. "That's right, God! We hear you!" he said, looking heavenward, and — KA-POW! — a bolt of lightning struck the little church.

As the Toledo Blade reported:
"There was a big flash right in front of everyone’s eyes," said 15-year-old Erick Smith, who was sitting in a back pew at the July 1 service. "He was wearing a cordless mike and I saw sparks of electricity go from his belt buckle up to his microphone."

Erick's mother, Ronnie Cheney, said there was a "blue aura" in the building as the lights flickered off and on and the church’s sound system exploded.

"It just lasted a second, but it was pretty wild to say the least," Mrs. Cheney said.

After a pause, Mr. Hardman resumed his sermon and preached for another 20 minutes.

"We tried to focus back on what the evangelist was saying until a neighbor lady came in the back door and said the lightning had hit the steeple," Mrs. Cheney said. "Then one of the church trustees said the steeple was on fire."

"I smelled something burning," young Smith said, "but I thought it was the sound system. We didn’t know it was the steeple."

Meanwhile, several heavy clay tiles had fallen from the steeple and crushed a car in the parking lot, Mrs. Cheney said. The wrecked car was parked where Mr. Hardman had kept his family’s motor home until earlier that day, when he moved it because of problems with a nearby bees nest.

"That was the first miracle, that the tiles didn’t crush the Hardmans' camper," Mrs. Cheney said.

29 Day Giving Challenge - Watching the movie Air Bud for the umpteenth time with my two-year-old.