“Tonight’s the night. I can’t go on any longer. Life is hard and empty and purposeless. There’s not one talk to. I’d be better off dead. I’ll go to work at the hospital tonight, and then, I will leave it for the last time.” These were the thoughts swirling in Cora’s mind as she left for work.

She had tried to be holier than her friends, so she could be assured that God would bless her, and that she would go to heaven. She had grown up in a religious home, and had always been an ambitious and self-righteous person. Cora had attended college in the Philippines and finished Education. Because she had come from a poor family with nine children, she had set aside her impossible dream of becoming a nurse. Then, what joy!  She had received a scholarship to go to nursing school in England! She had spent six years there, earning her nurse's degree and working in the hospital.

Then she had returned home to the Philippines for a vacation. While she was there, Wilson, a dear classmate from college days decided to get married! Following the honeymoon, Cora had returned to her nursing position in England so she could earn more money. Now, a year later, she felt very alone and confused. There seemed to be no other way to put other struggles; tonight she would end it all!

But before it was time for Cora to go off duty, a Christian nurse sensed that something was wrong, and she challenged her bluntly: "Why don't you ask God to be real and alive in your life?" Cora pondered the question as she returned to her room. What did she have to lose? She dropped to her knees, “God! Are You Real and Alive?” That was all she said, and suddenly she felt warmth all over her body, and she began to cry. "I could not stop crying, but I realized that my tears were no longer because of pain and depression, but because of a new peace and joy in my heart."

"I had heard John 3:16 many times, but tonight it became a living Word. I sought God's forgiveness, and I received Jesus as my Savior and Lord. I now knew the meaning and purpose for which I had longed — it was the turning point in my life." Months went by, and as Cora studied her Bible, she began to understand that the Lord wanted her to go home to her husband. She tried to ignore this, for she still wanted to make money to help her family. Finally, she stopped resisting and obediently returned to the Philippines - and to Wilson.