Faith-Sealed Hope

Faith-Sealed Hope

Danny McBride

ISBN 979-8-88751-439-0 (paperback)

ISBN 979-8-89043-287-2 (hardcover)

ISBN 979-8-88751-440-6 (digital)

Copyright © 2023 by Danny McBride

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Gratitude Page

Chapter 1

The Intro

Chapter 2

Early Days

Chapter 3

Growing Up

Chapter 4

Pantera Trip

Chapter 5

The Learning Phase

Chapter 6

The Daughter Effect

Chapter 7

Paradise at Last

Chapter 8

The Awakening

Chapter 9

The Secret

Chapter 10

New Days

Chapter 11

The Best Trip of All Time

Chapter 12

The One Possible Cause

Chapter 13

The Next Obvious Step

Chapter 14

Stunner Before Our Day

Chapter 15

The Car Accident

Chapter 16

The Big Day

Chapter 17

First Visit from Jesus

Chapter 18

This Time She Wanted to Say Goodbye

Chapter 19

Her 40th in Miami

Chapter 20

My First Trip to the Big House

Chapter 21

Our Only Mini Honeymoon

Chapter 22

Our Energies Started to Mesh

Chapter 23

Josh Leaving

Chapter 24

Our Last Christmas

Chapter 25

Our Time

Chapter 26

The Way She Went

Chapter 27

Bahamas

Chapter 28

A New Appreciation for Earth

Chapter 29

Corona in Tennessee

Chapter 30

Finally, a Visit

Chapter 31

Jesus Visits a Second Time

Chapter 32

The Validation

Chapter 33

The Conclusion

About the Author

Gratitude Page

I want to thank God for the abundance of guidance and blessings. Without You, Your Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, I would not be the person I am!

I want to thank my angel of a wife Jaime Faith McBride, to who I also dedicate this book. You single-handedly consecrated my faith through love, hope, and trust.

I want to thank my children for being my purpose to grow.

My family and friends for their support and love.

I would like to give a special thanks to M&K Publishing, especially Kaylyn. Thanks to Josephine and Cindy for helping me get my words and message clearer. And thanks to Candy and Joshua for keeping me on the right track through the finish line.

Gratitude = attitude

Chapter 1

The Intro

For as long as I can remember, I have been telling stories of all the shit I've been through. I knew after my late wife was saved for the third time, and we were given extra time, that my purpose was to get my story out there. I knew I had to write it all down. One day, I told myself, You're going to do this. So this is basically the story of my life as I can recall it. I'm writing it in my early forties, only a couple years after experiencing the biggest trauma a person can endure (other than losing a child, obviously, which I pray none of you ever have to experience). I hope the things that have happened to me might inspire you to tell your stories. In being honest about what we have gone through, others can know they are not alone in their own struggles. The details I am sharing here have gotten me a strange look a time or two, and I want you to know that your story is not crazy, and what you have overcome matters.

God has touched me in so many ways, and He's been there through every insane obstacle of my life. I've always had a spiritual connection, a feeling of knowing my purpose was to at least try to do better every day. I'm just a Midwestern Catholic Irish boy named Danny McBride. I was present when my best friend drowned at age sixteen. I buried both of my parents in their fifties while watching both of their moms suffer in the process. I met and lost my soulmate within five years of knowing her. However, I still know my life has been the biggest blessing on earth, and everything happened to get me to where I'm right now.

I dedicate this book to my late wife, Jaime Faith McBride. No person influenced me more in my entire life than this woman. I'm so grateful for my failed first marriage which brought me my four children who I love more than anything in this world! I'm thankful for my parents, especially my mother, who gave me most of my morals and ethics. She is the reason I am the way I am. I'm even thankful for my father. Though he chose not to be involved in my day-to-day life and instead chose alcohol as a coping mechanism, he definitely taught me how not to be.

I'm thankful that I know life is precious, and I have learned to cherish every breath. I watch the sunrise every week, and I try to see the sunset on the lake as often as I can. I try to take vacations at least three times a year. I always stop to appreciate God's glorious earth. I also take pride in helping my fellow man with zero motive. It's easy to keep a bottle of water in your car for someone who's begging for money. The ones who truly need it will be so grateful for that water. I'm so glad I was shown things like The Secret (a book written by Rhonda Byrne), which taught me to think positively and that if you ask for anything you want, you can get it. It's that easy. Don't ever let your mind control your heart. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 2

Early Days

The story starts on September 3, 1978, when I was born. I don't remember it. I was born at 2:34 a.m., to Sharon and Daniel McBride, which happened to be the day before my mother's birthday. She was born on September 4, and Labor Day was our birthday weekend. We always made the most of our birthdays. Once I became an adult, our celebrations became more about just enjoying time together.

I know I was a hard child labor. (She made that clear.) I also know my name would've been Jennifer if I were a girl and feel that my dad would have been a better man if that would have happened. I don't remember anything, of course, being young. I'm told I was potty-trained by ten months old. I am also told that I learned the spelling of napper at a really young age. They would say, It's time for an N-A-P-P-E-R [spelling it out loud]! By two years old, I knew what they spelled and screamed, No napper!

The first childhood memory that I can recall takes place in Florida when I was five years old. I was waving to my parents who were standing on the beach. The next thing I knew; I was waking up. Apparently, I had been knocked out by a wave and was lucky to survive. I woke up on the beach with my parents over me. They were all freaked out.

Another memory I have was when I peed my pants on the corner of my street while walking home from school. It froze my jeans and caused me to stand there on the corner, frozen. My neighbor Mr. Shaw discovered me and came over to help me get home. He carried me frozen to my mom. I also remember a time when my mom got annoyed with me trying to grab a cigarette out of the ashtray, over and over again. I was about five or six. Finally, out of fear of me burning myself, she said, You really want this? Here. Take a deep breath. I did, and I still remember feeling like I died. I couldn't breathe as I was coughing and throwing up. It was the worst feeling! To this day, the habit of cigarette smoking grosses me out. Both my mother and father smoked every day until they died. It was the reason both of them passed away at such a young age.

I also remember my first ghostly/spiritual experience occurring around the same age. I was probably five years old. I think I was in kindergarten, and I woke up one night, looked around, and saw what I can only describe as Ghostbusters' slimers flying over my head. There were a lot of them, and it was really blurry. I can't explain what it was, but I do remember it vividly.

A few nights later, I had a more distinct experience. I woke up and rolled over. I saw my Grandma Blue who was still alive at the time, standing over my bed, clear as day. She appeared like a see-through version of herself and was a smiling bright light that had no substance. I rolled back over, and I counted to ten. When I looked again, she was still there! I was so scared. I rolled back over and begged for her to go away. I lay there as long as I thought was necessary. I looked back, and she was gone. I got up and ran as fast as I could to my mom and dad's room. I slept there for at least a year straight—damn near. I'll never forget it. I finally felt safe, returned to my bedroom, and had no more visuals like that again as a child.

As a young kid, I played many sports, but baseball was my favorite. My mom was my biggest fan. She was the loudest and most obnoxious parent in the stands during every game I played growing up. I remember being so embarrassed when she would scream at the umpire, every at bat, and then teased when I would get on base by the other teams.

I was one of three boys and the most competitive of all of them. My dad needed a girl. As does every man, in my opinion. It teaches us to protect and appreciate women more. It also softens our hearts to have a daughter. Generational trauma and lack of love from his father carried into parenting us boys harshly, especially me being the oldest. We make the most mistakes on our oldest. He ultimately got stuck in a rut of depression and alcoholism, especially after Grandpa died.

I remember that my next, most vivid spiritual moment ironically involved the death of my dad's dad. I was ten years old, and my grandpa had been sick for a while fighting lung cancer. The diagnosis was not good. I was sitting at home playing Mario Brothers in the back bedroom one day. All of a sudden, my Mario guy died for no reason! Then my Nintendo shut off, and the TV flickered. Nothing happened to the lights or anything else in the house. About three or four minutes later, my cousin Tina, who was babysitting us at the time, came in and told me my grandpa had just died. I felt as if I already knew. Instead of asking about my grandpa, I asked her, Did the lights and power just flicker because my Nintendo shut off? I was a ten-year-old who was upset.

She responded, No, I didn't see anything.

I have felt a close connection to the spiritual realm from a young age. However, I assume because I thought about it or asked for it to go away, my sensitivity dissipated.

As a teenager, I was still into sports. I was a shy, quiet kid. My parents tried to send me to a private school called De La Salle. I made it through freshman year, but the truth is, we couldn't afford anything like that. They should've never enrolled me in something they couldn't afford. They hadn't fully paid the tuition throughout the year which would bite me in the ass the following year. I played lacrosse my freshman year for the first time. This was a sport I immediately fell in love with. I made