Confessions of The Tomato Man

Belief and Faith with Matt

Subject: Life

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We’ve all had those random experiences in life that leave you asking “What just happened?”  

You know you will never be able to logically explain it so you just accept it as-is.  

(2/4/15) Today was one of those times.

To preserve the identity of this guy, I am just going to refer to him as the Tomato Man.  That and because I honestly don’t even know his name.  So this guy comes into work about once a week.  I have seen him a lot throughout the years, but our conversations never went past the casual “Hey, how’s it going, ok bye, see you next week.”

Before I begin with his story, let me fill you in on the recent happenings.

It was back in late November with Christmas quickly approaching.  One thing the Tomato Man always is, is consistent.  He shows up every week at just about the exact same time.

This week was different…

He never showed up.  He missed a week.  This was very unusual for him.

Rest assured, the next week he was back at the same time.  He didn’t look like he was doing too good so I asked him how he was, and that was when he told me that his wife was in the hospital.  She had a stroke and was now in a coma.

He told me that the doctors told him that she was pretty much a ‘vegetable.’  His wife was still alive, but unable to move or speak.  The last thing he said to me before leaving that day was that the doctors told him the situation was looking pretty grim.  I told the Tomato Man that I would pray for them, and out the door he went.

The next two weeks were the same story.  She wasn’t looking any better.  No signs of his wife getting better.  Nothing positive.  But he didn’t give up on her, despite the hospital pressuring him to pull the plug on her life support.

It’s tough to think about, and imagine what you would do if the roles were reversed.  What you would do if you were in his shoes.

Much like the Tomato Man, I know that I wouldn’t want to give up either.

I don’t know the guy that well but I’m pretty sure he had to be thinking to himself that it was time for miracles.

The next week when I saw the Tomato Man, I could tell something good had happened.  He walked in with this big grin on his face.  He told me that he experienced a Christmas miracle, and that his wife was now talking and moving.  He couldn’t believe it, and I couldn’t either.  I was happy things were starting to look brighter for the guy.  But during this interaction he concealed the details which he revealed to me today.

Now, fast forward back to the present.  Well, the present past- Wednesday, February 4th.

Ok so, it has been over a month since we’ve talked about his wife and the Christmas miracle.  Today I asked him how his wife was doing and he told me that she has been doing better and she is making progress.  But then he started telling me much more.

He began telling me how the hospital wanted to take her off of life support because there was no hope for her, and how he refused to believe it.  He told them that only God had the power to make her heart stop beating and that taking her off of life support was the equivalent of “playing God.”  So after telling the doctors that, he stormed out upset, and then turned to God.

He prayed to God that night.

He told me that he was awoken during his sleep by a thundering voice that said “I CAN DO ANYTHING!”

He felt confident that it was God speaking directly to him.  So he said to God, “God, if you say you can do anything, then please help heal my wife!”

Silence…

The next time that he went to see his wife, she was still in the same vegetable-like condition.  However, as he stood there, he received another message from God.  God told the man to place the palm of his hand on his wife’s forehead and say “Bless you my child, I love you, you are healed!”

Without hesitation, he did as directed.  No sooner than the last word left his mouth, his wife miraculously began talking and moving.  She came out of the coma just in time for Christmas.  Unbelievable.

After hearing all of this, I didn’t know what to think.  But the man continued to tell me of many other instances where God has spoken to him and guided him –  along with other equally unbelievable stories.

He admitted “You probably think I’m crazy after telling you all of this.” and I thought to myself…

“Am I crazy for believing it?”

He spoke with such passion, joy and intensity.  The way he spoke reminded me of the way Mr. T does in this interview where he praises God: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.  Yeah, I didn’t know Mr. T was a holy man either.

I just don’t believe that anyone could possibly fake that level of conviction.  On top of that, the timing for him to randomly tell me all of this about his life and experiences with God couldn’t have been any better, for at this point in my life I am working on strengthening my own relationship with God.

I mean the Tomato Man really had no reason to reveal his life stories to me.  He could have easily left it at “my wife had a Christmas miracle, the end.”  Which is a story that most people can accept.  But after hearing the details that he told me, he’s right.  Most people would think he is crazy.

The Tomato Man and I are pretty much acquainted strangers.  Much like my own relationship with God I suppose…acquainted strangers.

For whatever reason he decided to tell me all of that, I’ll never know and I’ll never ask.  But I am fortunate for it.

Now, a lot of people will dismiss his story and say “oh, he’s bullshitting” or “hearing voices? yeah. that guy is a lunatic or a schizophrenic.”

They will dismiss his story the same way that they say a 71 yr old can’t look like Sam Bryant Jr, or a 78 yr old like Jim Morris.  They will chalk it up to “steroids, growth hormones, good genes, etc.”

They will dismiss his story in the same way they dismiss a young millionaire “oh he has rich parents, he won the lotto, he got lucky, etc.”

I met a guy who went around to fraternities with a buddy selling a special  “beer bong” that was made for liqueur drinks.  Long story short, the popularity caught on, and him and his friend were contacted by Monster with a multi-million dollar contract.

Last I heard from him, he was just living easy playing video games all day.

My point is that now-a-days people are so ready to disbelieve or discredit something that they limit their own possibilities.

The majority of people now-a-days don’t believe in anything.  I doubt they even believe in themselves.

Society, your parents, your friends, your peers, your coworkers…they all can influence your beliefs.  But ultimately they are your beliefs and only you choose what you believe.

So what’s the point?

I want you to believe in something.  But even that isn’t good enough.  Be confident in your beliefs even if they don’t line up with everyone else’s.  Be willing to challenge your existing beliefs, even if you don’t change your beliefs.  This is called keeping an open mind.

“Closed minds close doors, and closed hearts close more.” – Matt

Regardless of whether you believe in God or not, I think it is His message that is important.  To me, that message is one of kindness and compassion.  A desire to help mankind.  The best feeling I ever had was helping out a good friend in a time of need.

My friend was just establishing himself as a devout Christian, when tragedy struck.

I open up facebook and see that I am invited to a page that my friend made.  It said that his beloved dog, Bella, was  accidentally run over by a neighbor.  Bella needed to have an operation to fix her legs.  If he couldn’t come up with the money he would be forced to put her to sleep.

The group had overwhelming support and was full of people offering their prayers etc.  It was easily over thirty people who all said the same thing.  If each of these people would have donated him a little bit of money, he would have quickly had enough, and that was what bugged me the most.

I wasn’t loaded with cash, or making bank, but I knew I couldn’t sit around and just let his dog get put to sleep.  My friend was going through hard times… He was a single father of a 4 year old daughter, stressed from work, had bills to pay, and now this situation with his dog.

This dog was pretty much a family member to him, and the nicest, happiest little dog I’ve ever met.  On top of that, I knew that his daughter would be devastated at the loss of their pet.

Listed on the page was the amount of money he needed for the operation.  With my next paycheck in hand, I made the decision that I was going to give him all of the money needed to save his dog’s life.

At the very moment I made that decision, I felt overwhelmed by a sense of joy.  I was hit by a crushing wave of emotion that left me paralyzed. The feeling was so intense, it made me want to breakdown.

I felt weak, yet powerful and full of joy.  Like I was fulfilling my purpose as a human being. I felt confident that the purpose of life was to help others.  I felt great.

I put the money in an envelope and wrote “For Bella” on it.  Luckily he wasn’t home when I drove by his house, so I dropped it off in his mailbox and that was it.  Then I waited…

Later, I saw this on his Facebook:

“Ok, so somebody left an envelope in my mailbox for my dogs medical bill! u know who u are! please call me! GOD IS SO GOOD! I AM SO BLESSED”

“I know! Somebody left a crazy amount of money for her! I owe them my dogs life! GOD IS SO AMAZING! It is so nice to know there are still incredible people out there that are full of heart and kindness! I wish I could find out who it was so I can pray for them!”

I didn’t tell him it was me.  Not because I wanted it to be a secret, but because I felt like it was something that needed to be done regardless of who did it.  I didn’t want the credit or attention.  I just wanted to save his dog’s life.

Note: I did eventually tell him it was me.  We may not talk or hang out as much as we used to, but I know if I were ever in a time of need that he would be there for me and vice versa.  I didn’t ever expect to be paid back for that money.  I wasn’t worried about it.

I just wanted to do what I knew was the right thing to do.  I knew it in my heart and soul.  Now most of you who know me personally, know I’m not one to brag.  Which is why some people that are close to me don’t even know about this story.

The reason being, I don’t care for the attention.  These days you see all of these videos made just to trend and make people famous.  That’s not what life is about.  It’s about what goes on when the camera isn’t on.  It’s about the kindness that goes on everyday that never gets published.  It’s that feeling you have deep down in your gut that goodness is right.

I recently read that one should spend money on experiences rather than material things, because experiences last and shape a human being.  To a point, I can agree because that experience I “paid” for was absolutely priceless.

As if saving Bella’s life wasn’t enough, my friend’s gratitude and appreciation was the cherry on top:

“Matt! Dude, I owe u my dogs life! Y would u put so much man! May God bless u in so many ways! I’m going to plan somthing for u bro! Will every body that commented on this pray that God bless Matt in so many ways!”

My friend and his dog were every bit deserving of the money.  He has a good heart and a giving personality.

And don’t worry buddy, God has blessed me in so many ways.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t express my gratitude.

You know, it was actually during that same time frame that I asked God to help me figure out what I should do with my life.  I was feeling depressed…I was hopeless.  I was going nowhere fast.  I was a college drop out and didn’t have much going for me, except for my passion for health and music.  I was standing in the kitchen, still feeling hopeless, when I begged God to help me.

It was then He answered me.

I want to say that I “heard” Him, but it was more like a feeling…I felt Him tell me to start a website and write an e-book, with the intentions of helping people.

And so I did!…4 years later ( “Don’t Wait.” explains what happened.)

Sorry it took so long for me to listen God.

What is the take-away message from all of this?

Believe.

Have faith.

Take action.

Help others.

Be humble.

This is RemedyRising.com.

Until next time,

God bless.

-Matt

Photos by: Catalin82, Zdiviv, Stuart Miles, Foto76, Naypong, and Bongoni