My Story

Till the age of 12-13 I did not have any religious influence in my life. After my mom passed away, when I was 11, I went and lived with my cousin. Then a year or two later I went to live with my oldest sister and her 3 kids. I was sent to church every Sunday with her kids and their grandparents. I never understood anything they were talking about, it went in one ear and out the other. In middle school a new “youth church” was built, they played a lot of worship music but to me it was just a weekly concert. Now that I look back, I think I know why church didn’t stick with me, I felt that I hated God for taking my mom away from me at such a young age. In middle school I started a downward spiral, not caring about anything but myself, I started to steal from fellow students and stores. In high school I started to listen to rap, heavy metal, and “screamo” music. I kept hearing people say that the type of music I listened to was evil and could corrupt you, I did not care and always thought that these people were stupid. Listening to the music that I used to listen to, I now understand the messages and it honestly sickens me that I loved that music. During my junior year of high school, I was taking a zero hour class. Within the first few months of this class I noticed that no one was at the school before a certain time, so I started to come to school earlier and let myself into the school store. There was one time I was almost caught, but that did not stop me from continuing my actions. In my mind I tried to justify it as I only took food because I was hungry but now that I look back, it was the rush of stealing that had me hooked.

I joined the Air Force right out of high school, basic training was as hard as I was made to believe it was. In basic training and job training, they offered us a choice to attend a sermon at the chapel, I went to get out of the duty we had to do. While at this sermon a song came on and it hit me hard, it was “letters from war” by mark Schultz. After that, I did not go to church again for some time, not because I did not want to but because the military took up 90% of my time. In 2009 I came back from deployment due to a medical emergency with the girl I was with, her and I got married later that year, had a son together and our relationship started to go downhill. After a few years of fighting, arguing, and infidelity (on both sides) we end up getting a divorce.

In 2011 I was told that my contract with the Air Force was being cut, due to military budget cuts, and that I was getting an honorable discharge. I took this as a sign from God that It was time to move on. After the military, I got a job delivering newspapers, my route was 110 miles round trip. There were a few times that I dozed off while driving and got jolted awake with just enough time to miss hitting a tree, I knew it was God who woke me up and saved me multiple times. Later I went to college, and failed out, then a trade school, during that time I had a lot of unhealthy relations. After I graduated from trade school, I felt that something in my life needed to change. I started to research different religions, never settling on a single one. It was not till I came back into contact with my high school sweetheart, now wife, and moved to Washington. One Sunday she brought me to New Life Church and the message that the pastor was giving hit me hard, it was at that moment that I knew I had to learn more about Jesus and give my life to God and on June 24th 2018 I got baptized. I still struggle with the grip that sin had on me, and I feel guilt, shame, and that I betray God when I lose the battle against sin, but I know that my sin has been washed clean by the blood of Jesus.