My testimony begins back when I was a small child. I remember one particular night when I suddenly realized one day I was going to die. This is a scary thought for a small child. I cried out in fear for my Mom and Dad and told them I did not want to die. My parents were not sure how to comfort such a small boy. They told me that, that I wouldn’t die for a long time; I had my whole life to live, and not to worry about it. All through my childhood years I was very disrespectful to authority and rebellious. I hung around with people who were just as rebellious as I was; sinners love sin as they say.
In high school I wanted to be accepted by others so I decided to start drinking and smoking. This destructive behavior would continue on all through high school and college. Looking back there was so many times that the Lord had mercy on me and spared me from certain death. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, and I surely was a slave to sin. By the grace of God, I met my wife when I was a senior at high school, through her cousin, who I went to school with. We began dating, she was very different then most people I knew. Early on in college, one day I heard a street preacher, preaching on campus. I suddenly was very drawn to what this man was saying. I marveled in what he was saying and his courage to speak in front of some many people about the Bible. I watched students curse and revile him. A man, who it turns out, worked with this man’s ministry came over and talked with me about the Bible and Jesus. We talked for a few minutes. He prayed for me, gave me a Bible, and invited me to a Bible study. I realize now that this is one of many seeds that were planted in my life. I probably won’t see this brother until heaven one day.
In June 2001 the Lord gave me my first good job with advancement potential. I was very under qualified, but they still hired me. In that same month I proposed to my wife. We were married in December 2001. I remember meeting with the pastor of the church we were attending for several council meetings before he would marry us. Looking back I think I actually thought I was a Christian. We attended their church often and I actually enjoyed going to church. Only problem was that I was not saved, I was still dead in my sins. A month after we were married I found out my wife was expecting. This was a total shock to me. At 21 and my new bride 20, we were both a little frightened, but still overjoyed. Two months later I got a call from my wife at work. She was in a panic. She told me that she had gone to the doctor and they could not find the baby’s heartbeat. The baby was dead in my wife’s womb. My mind began to race. All I could think of doing was finding her and holding her. After a second doctor appointment, the doctor recommended my wife undergo surgery to remove the dead baby. I will never forget that day of the surgery. As I held hands with the hospital Chaplin and my wife, as the Chaplin prayed, inside I cried out to God. The Holy Spirit showed me how lost I was and that the path I was on led to hell, also I was a miserable husband to my wife.
In the spring of 2002 I was working two jobs which were very tough because I could not be there for my grieving wife. I was working my first shift job at the bank and at nights/weekends at a restaurant. I remember vividly one day going down to the basement of the restaurant where all the liquor was stored and crying out to God because I was not yet his. You see I belonged to my master the devil at that time, what the bible says from Ephesians 2:3 …”lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath…”
In June 2002 I began to attend the Baptist church my wife had grown up in. On the second week of attending with my wife, the Lord saved me. The Pastor was preaching on the Psalms when I felt conviction like I had never felt before. At the end of the service during the invitation, the Lord did a supernatural work and regenerated my heart. I felt deep remorse and repentance for the first time in my life as I realized that Jesus had given His life as a ransom for me. I knew I needed to be saved. I repented and believed onto Jesus as my Lord and Savior. As I left the church the pastor asked me if I meant what I did, I told him yes I meant it. As I drove away from the church I pulled over and started to weep with my wife with joyful tears. Since that day to this one I continue to read His word and grow as I live the Christian life in His power. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways and I give him praise for everything good comes from above. I was baptized later at the same Baptist church I was saved in. I continue on now as the Lord holds my hand, for I am not trusting in my ability to hear and understand, I am trusting on His ability to lead. My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
“For he brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth.”
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