{"id":12542,"date":"2024-03-04T12:11:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T06:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/04\/the-miracle-on-maui-a-strangers-encounter-with-a-dying-boy-leads-to-redemption-and-transformation\/"},"modified":"2024-03-04T12:11:59","modified_gmt":"2024-03-04T06:41:59","slug":"the-miracle-on-maui-a-strangers-encounter-with-a-dying-boy-leads-to-redemption-and-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/04\/the-miracle-on-maui-a-strangers-encounter-with-a-dying-boy-leads-to-redemption-and-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Miracle on Maui: A Stranger&#8217;s Encounter with a Dying Boy Leads to Redemption and Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-cbn-component-name=\"wysiwyg_editor\">\n<p>The short version goes something like this\u2026<\/p>\n<p>A man goes to Hawaii to attend his friend\u2019s wedding. He\u2019s a big golfer so he brings his clubs along. That man, though, is an alcoholic. He gets so drunk daily that he never hits a golf ball. In fact, there are several moments from the trip he\u2019ll never recall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In the wee hours of one of his last days on the island, he remembers a deep desire he has always had: to see the sun rise over the ocean from the beach. Still drunk from the night before, he grabs a bottle of vodka, puts it in his back pocket, and walks down to the sandy shore.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As the sun peeks above the waves, and in between pulls of his vodka, he notices a boy down the beach. The boy is fishing as his mom watches. Something about the boy draws the man in. Filled with liquid courage, he approaches the boy\u2019s mother and asks what\u2019s going on. She explains that the young boy is dying of cancer and they are on his Make-A-Wish trip. He always wanted to fish on the beach, so that\u2019s what they\u2019re doing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Listen to them on the latest\u00a0episode\u00a0of \u201cQuick Start\u201d:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"482\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/playlist.megaphone.fm\/?p=CCBNC3640195386\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Curious, the man asks if it would be alright for him to talk to the boy. For some reason, the mother says yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As the two converse, something happens. He hears deep wisdom, truth, love, and courage spill out of the boy\u2019s mouth. He sees genuine happiness. He doesn\u2019t remember exactly what was said, but it changed him. It challenged him. The boy talked about Jesus, about life, about his outlook on dying. The man was in awe.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After their roughly 30-minute conversation, the man walked away convicted. He knew what awaited him if he kept going the direction he was headed. Destruction. So much destruction. Just like he had seen play out in front of him as a child. He wanted to \u2013 he needed to \u2013 change.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When he returned from his trip, he gave up alcohol. He got his life in order through pursuing God. He changed dramatically and drastically. It wasn\u2019t easy. But little by little he made progress. Today, he is 12 years sober, a dad, and a successful business owner. All because of a small conversation, with a small boy, on a small stretch of beach in Hawaii. And a big God.<\/p>\n<p>That man is Aaron Palmer, a financial planner from Tacoma, Washington. That boy is Ethan Hallmark, the 13-year-old who died from his cancer in 2014 and is featured in the I Am Second film, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iamsecond.com\/film\/many-are-the-wonders\/\">Many Are the Wonders<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"423\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.50.58%E2%80%AFPM.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.50.58\u202fPM.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.50.58\u202fPM-300x198.jpg 300w\" width=\"640\"\/><figcaption><em>Palmer with his son during one of their annual trips to the beach where he met Ethan.\u00a0<\/em><em>Photo credit: Aaron Palmer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>That was the short version.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What follows is the full story of how Palmer spent the last year tracking down Hallmark and his family, how exactly that young boy affected him, and an unlikely reunion with the Hallmarks \u2014 as well as other details \u2014 that are too incredible to call mere chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>To say Palmer\u2019s life was chaotic growing up would be an understatement. His addict mom was married eight times.\u00a0<em>Eight times.<\/em>\u00a0The revolving relationship door spun enough to make a Kansas tornado jealous. And every one of those men seemed to have two things in common: they were alcoholics and they were abusive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI saw a lot of terrible things,\u201d Palmer told me on a recent afternoon from his home in Tacoma. \u201cMy mother was kidnapped when I was a kid. When I was in seventh grade, she was getting beat and I ran out and [her husband at the time] had a gun to her head. So I saw a lot of crazy, terrible, terrible things a child probably shouldn\u2019t see right? It was just chaos, violence, and complete instability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s putting it mildly.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unsurprisingly, Palmer turned to alcohol to cope. It started as a way to numb what he had gone through. But by the end of college, the small pet had grown into an uncontrollable beast.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI graduate from college somehow during all this chaos and next thing you know, I\u2019m drinking three or four days a week and I\u2019m starting to have blackouts,\u201d he explains. That continued throughout his 20s. It got so bad that he had maxed out all his credit cards because of regularly paying bar tabs for strangers so he could create a sense of belonging.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was blacking out every single weekend, even getting kicked out of bars,\u201d he says. Then came the DUI. After getting pulled over in front of his apartment, his blood-alcohol level registered a 0.26, over three times the legal limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But not even that was the wake-up call he needed: \u201cI get out [from jail] the next day and what do I do? I go to the bar and start all over.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The wake-up call would come two months later in November of 2011. Palmer\u2019s friend invited him to his wedding in Maui. But with his credit cards maxed out, he couldn\u2019t afford it. Desperate for that sense of belonging again, though, he opened up a new card and hopped on the plane.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The memories get a little foggy starting there. \u201cI blacked out every day,\u201d he admits.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure><img alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 762px) 100vw, 762px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2045-762x1024.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2045-762x1024.jpeg 762w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2045-223x300.jpeg 223w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2045-768x1033.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2045.jpeg 952w\" width=\"762\"\/><figcaption><em>Aaron Palmer while on the trip to Hawaii that changed his life. Photo credit: Aaron Palmer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Needless to say, his golf clubs never left his room. But on the second-to-last day of his drunken foray, he decided he would drag himself to the beach to fulfill a longtime desire to see the sun rise over the ocean.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>True to form \u2014 and still \u201cbuzzed\u201d from the night before \u2014 he grabbed a bottle of vodka and stumbled down to the sand. As he watched the sunrise peek through the clouds with empty eyes, he looked down the beach and noticed something: someone was fishing. Curious, he inched closer. And closer. And closer. That\u2019s when he noticed this \u201csomeone\u201d was a young boy. Ten years old, to be exact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see him down on the beach, close to the water, and I see a woman taking pictures of him with a real camera,\u201d he recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With his inhibitions gone and vodka bottle in tow, he struck up a conversation with the woman. He asked why she and the boy were up so early.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, my son is part of Make-A-Wish Foundation, and this is part of his final wish that was granted to him,\u201d she replied. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t have long to live.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s when something started stirring inside of Palmer. He felt a strong desire to talk to the boy. He didn\u2019t just want to; he needed to. After getting the mother\u2019s permission \u2013 something that still baffles him to this day \u2013 he began the 30-minute conversation that would change his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t tell you exactly what he said,\u201d Palmer admits. But that doesn\u2019t mean he doesn\u2019t remember the essence of the conversation or the effect it had on him. \u201cI saw a boy facing death who had more faith, and more happiness, and more hope than I had in my entire life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m contemplating suicide because of alcoholism and completely depressed, and yet this little boy has cancer that\u2019s going to take his life for sure and he has more hope, faith, and happiness than I do,\u201d he reiterates.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure><img alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"769\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6332-1024x769.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6332-1024x769.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6332-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6332-768x577.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6332-400x300.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6332-rotated.jpeg 1278w\" width=\"1024\"\/><figcaption><em>Palmer with his wife, Heidi, on the same exact place on the beach where he met Ethan. He returns to the area every year. Photo credit: Aaron Palmer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It was in that moment, he says, that God \u201cslapped\u201d him in the face.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou are so selfish. What are you doing with your life? You have been given a life that you could do anything you want with, and here you are drinking it away,\u201d he recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He left the conversation completely God-smacked. And as he said goodbye to the boy and his mother, he made a decision to start a new journey. A journey focused on the hope the young man showed him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Never did he imagine, though, how that journey would eventually lead him right back to that little boy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>When he returned to Tacoma, Palmer followed through on his commitment to turn his life around. He stopped drinking and started going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. The spark the young fisherman ignited on the beach that day became a flame. He began pursuing God as well, and found purpose and meaning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy faith just grew, and grew, and grew, and grew, and grew, as well as my trust in God and His plan,\u201d he says of that season. \u201cI came to understand that Aaron\u2019s not in control anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>November 2023 marked 12 years since Palmer\u2019s conversation on the beach. Twelve years sober. Since then, he got married. He has a son and a daughter. He built a thriving financial planning business and has even performed weddings as an officiant. And he\u2019s been telling his Hawaii story to anyone who will listen. A story of life transformation, of pursuing God, and of a conversation that changed his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact, he even chose Hawaii for his wedding five years later because it was \u201cwhere this boy saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But as he\u2019s told the entire story (thousands of times, he says), there\u2019s always been a little piece missing. Maybe as a result of still being drunk, or maybe because he was just so blown away, he never got the young boy\u2019s name.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always just described him as the boy on the beach,\u201d Palmer says.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2023, however, after going through some family struggles that left him hurt, he got a \u201cnudge\u201d from God (through a confidant) to change that \u2014 to give \u201cthe boy on the beach\u201d a name and to share with the young man\u2019s family the impact the boy had on him.<\/p>\n<p>But how do you find one boy, one family, from 12 years ago when you don\u2019t even know their last name, let alone their first ones? Where do you even begin? Is it even possible?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He started the only place he could think of: makeawish.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went to the main site, and everybody\u2019s got a contact button,\u201d he explains. \u201cSo I just hit \u2018contact\u2019 and typed in my name and gave a glimpse of the story.\u201d His full email read:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>In 2011 I met a Make-A-Wish Foundation award recipient. I met him on a beach on Maui, it was the beach right next to Ka\u2019anapali Golf course, I was staying at the Royal Lahaina resort and was taking a beach walk very early in the morning. This boy saved my life. His mother told me he had 2 weeks to live and this was his wish, to fish the beaches in Maui, she was taking photos of him. I at the time was struggling with alcoholism and had been drinking very heavily the last 6 months. I met this boy and realized this boy that had 2 weeks to live had more Joy, Hope, and happiness than I did. It was a huge slap in the face by God. That boy helped change my entire perspective on life. That boy saved my life. I have been sober ever since. My sobriety date is 11\/28\/2011, I met this boy on 11\/19\/2011.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>I am wondering if there is a way to search Maui trips awarded in November 2011 to help me contact the family of this boy, so I can share my story that this boy saved my life, PLEASE HELP!<\/p>\n<p>He did get a response, but it wasn\u2019t hopeful. And after several email exchanges, he got some devastating news:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Aloha Aaron,\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>[\u2026]Your story is so touching to read and thank you for being vulnerable and sharing with us! After searching our records and working with Make-A-Wish America we found that Ethan passed away in 2013, and his family has not kept in touch with the chapter. After a further search for the parents we\u2019re not sure they\u2019re even living in the same state where he had his wish granted. [\u2026]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Still, he begged the organization to keep digging, even calling anyone who would pick up the phone: \u201cCan you just give it a shot?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>About a week or so later, his persistence paid off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne day I get a call from Kim [Elenez], the CEO of Make-A-Wish North Texas,\u201d he explains. She finally delivered the news he had been waiting for.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAaron, we found him,\u201d she said, delivering the three words he had been praying to hear. \u201cHis name is Ethan Hallmark. His parents are Rachel and Matt. They have a beautiful family. And this boy was as special as you remember. He has a documentary on him with I Am Second. Before you speak with them, you have to watch this documentary.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><img alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_7986-768x1024.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_7986-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_7986-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_7986.jpeg 960w\" width=\"768\"\/><figcaption><em>Palmer with his full family on the beach where he met Ethan.\u00a0Photo credit: Aaron Palmer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Palmer had never heard of I Am Second \u2013 the non-profit that tells stories of life transformation through the lens of faith \u2013 before, but he quickly found the documentary (\u201cMany Are the Wonders\u201d) and watched it with his wife three times. With each frame, with each minute, he couldn\u2019t believe what he was seeing. As Ethan told his story of radical dependence on Jesus \u2013 of making a difference by declaring God\u2019s wonders amidst the most grueling trial you can imagine \u2013 Palmer and his wife cried. They watched in awe as Ethan\u2019s parents talked about how their son wasn\u2019t really their son, but rather God\u2019s son. And Palmer finally learned not only the boy\u2019s name, but his full story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Oh my goodness, this boy\u00a0<em>was<\/em>\u00a0special,\u2019\u201d he says. Ethan was exactly like he remembered: incredible.<\/p>\n<p>Then came the ending. Palmer wasn\u2019t prepared for what flashed on the screen.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the documentary, it says Ethan passed away September 26, 2014. That\u2019s my birthday,\u201d he says through tears. He cries some more. I cry. We both get chills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnly God,\u201d he says excitedly. \u201cOnly God could paint this beautiful picture. This crazy picture. And He\u2019s not done, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No, God wasn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Palmer quickly reached out to Matt and Rachel Hallmark, the latter of which he now knows is the mother from the story he\u2019s told countless times. As he told them the story, they too were in awe. In fact, they were so moved, they did something Palmer never expected: they invited him and his family to come stay with them for a night over Christmas break.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure><img alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2726-768x1024.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2726-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2726-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_2726-rotated.jpeg 960w\" width=\"768\"\/><figcaption><em>Palmer and his wife with the Hallmark family over Christmas 2023. Photo credit: Aaron Palmer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>As it happens, Palmer\u2019s in-laws live about three hours from where the Hallmarks now call home in Texas, and they were already planning on visiting. Another \u201cGod thing,\u201d as Palmer describes it. So on December 27, 2023, after a long drive, the Palmers\u2019 and the Hallmarks\u2019 worlds collided \u2013 again. And it was about as special as you could imagine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe meet their four beautiful children, we have dinner, and I get to share with their children how their brother changed my life,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd how I have a beautiful family all because Rachel said \u2018yes\u2019 that day, and then Ethan spoke life into me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause of that boy,\u201d he continues, \u201cI can trust in God and see life differently. I can break the chains. And now I know his name. Now I know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But what about the Hallmarks? What did it mean to them?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve always been open with regard to Ethan\u2019s story, Ethan\u2019s faith, and, most importantly, the ministry that God bestowed upon Ethan and allowed him to have and how God sustained,\u201d Matt tells me from his car while traveling for work. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to see the impact that God had on Ethan\u2019s life and how that impact continues to reverberate in others\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just another way that God has encouraged us,\u201d he adds. \u201cTo hear Aaron\u2019s wife say, \u2018Thank you so much for your son and who you raised; I wouldn\u2019t have a husband, our kids wouldn\u2019t have a father if it wasn\u2019t for them meeting on the shore.\u2019 That is truly impactful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can talk about somebody touching somebody\u2019s life, but until you see it, until you witness it, until you know that person you don\u2019t have an ability to understand how that person touched lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Still, what about the question that has always stuck with Palmer: Why did Rachel say \u201cyes\u201d that day when he asked to talk to Ethan?<\/p>\n<p>Matt chuckles: \u201cThat\u2019s not something Rachel would ever normally do. But she knew that, in this case, there was a reason to allow him to let him do it. The Holy Spirit was just impressing upon her to allow Aaron to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s that simple. And that amazing. But it gets a little more amazing. See, at the time, Ethan didn\u2019t have two weeks to live, as Palmer understood. In fact, Matt explains, Ethan was in remission and hadn\u2019t even had his first relapse. The Hallmarks were as hopeful as they had ever been. But that\u2019s not what Palmer heard. And as Matt tells it, that\u2019s actually a testament to how God used the conversation.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was hearing what he needed to hear in order to put his life in order, in order for him to realize where he was at, and hear the words that God had for him,\u201d Matt explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s certainly a God story behind it all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>***<\/p>\n<p>As Palmer finishes telling me his story, he recounts one last detail. One last incredible instance of how God weaved his and Ethan\u2019s stories together. How he weaves all our stories together.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure><img alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"638\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.46.45%E2%80%AFPM-1024x638.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.46.45\u202fPM-1024x638.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.46.45\u202fPM-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.46.45\u202fPM-768x479.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Screenshot-2024-02-29-at-1.46.45\u202fPM.jpg 1184w\" width=\"1024\"\/><figcaption><em>The photo Palmer took of Ethan the day he met him on the beach.\u00a0Photo credit: Aaron Palmer<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Included in Ethan\u2019s documentary is video of him fishing. He loved to fish. You could say Ethan\u2019s fishing addiction is what led to his and Palmer\u2019s meeting on that November morning in 2011. After watching the documentary, seeing the video, and even seeing the pictures at the end of the film showing more of Ethan\u2019s fishing adventures, Palmer sent a series of photos to Matt. They were pictures he took of Ethan the morning they met, when he was awe-struck at the little boy in front of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In response, Matt sent back a single photo. It was a picture taken from the opposite angle. Same beach. Same day. Same clouds. Same time. Two people who just had to capture the same moment because of how incredible it was. Two perspectives. Two worlds. One story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Every year, Palmer returns to the exact spot where he met Ethan. He\u2019s taken family members there, his children, friends even. It\u2019s a sort of pilgrimage to celebrate how God used \u201cthe boy on the beach\u201d to reach him. The boy he now knows as Ethan Hallmark. And it\u2019s a testament to how God can use anyone, at any time, to heal any situation. Even the most hopeless.<\/p>\n<figure><img alt=\"\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"768\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6786-1024x768.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6786-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6786-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6786-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6786-400x300.jpeg 400w, https:\/\/www.faithwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_6786.jpeg 1280w\" width=\"1024\"\/><figcaption><em>The photo Matt Hallmark sent Palmer from the same day on the beach.\u00a0Photo credit: Aaron Palmer \/ Matt Hallmark<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a ripple effect that\u2019s flowing through my family in my life because of Ethan,\u201d Palmer says. \u201cAnd it\u2019s just not done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s right again.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On May 11 of this year, Palmer and the Hallmarks will be guest speakers at the annual Make-A-Wish North Texas gala to tell their story. A story that started on a beach, with a boy, and is still being written.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just not done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jonseidl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jon Seidl<\/a> is a contributing writer.\u00a0For the last decade, Seidl has been telling stories. In fact, he has written over 6,000 of them, first after helping start a top-50 news site, then as the editor-in-chief of the popular non-profit I Am Second, and most recently as the head of a special digital media product for actor Kirk Cameron. He\u2019s now the head of digital operations for an opinion and analysis network.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www1.cbn.com\/cbnnews\/us\/2024\/march\/the-miracle-on-maui-a-strangers-encounter-with-a-dying-boy-leads-to-redemption-and-transformation\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The short version goes something like this\u2026 A man goes to Hawaii to attend his friend\u2019s wedding. He\u2019s a big golfer so he brings his clubs along. That man, though, is an alcoholic. He gets so drunk daily that he never hits a golf ball. In fact, there are several moments from the trip he\u2019ll [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[]},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cccfornews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}