David's Testimony 11/24/2008
My life has been a roller coaster ride so far. By the time I was 7 years old my mom had already been divorced twice and my father was on his second marriage. I was the oldest boy of four on my mom’s side with one older sister. My dad had a son who is 8 years younger than I am. Also at that time I was having a lot of difficulties accepting my step parents.
By 7 years old I already had a lot of anger built up inside of me. I was scared and alone. My mother was busy with trying to take care of five kids and my dad had a new family. At this point I started to take this anger out on my siblings. I had always been smaller than my younger brothers so I would pick fights to prove and take revenge out on them for things that their father had done. They didn’t do anything, I was just angry and didn‘t know what else to do.
By this time my mom left us with my father and he had switched from being catholic to being Pentecostal. My father changed denominations when I was 5 years old. Whenever we were with him we had no choice but to go to church. I was a very shy kid so I didn’t take going to church easily. I was a rebellious kid and anything that I didn‘t like I made sure that everyone knew. When I was 7 years old we switched churches and found the church we have been at now for 13 years. It took a while to get used to a new church.
By the time I was 9 years old I had finally gotten used to the church but I was only going because I was told to go. When I turned 10 years old my dad decided to send me to church camp. It was awesome, I got to hang out with my friends and do almost anything I wanted. It was the best services and I could understand them too. On the last day of church camp my friend Chad and I both received the Holy Ghost with speaking in other tongues (Acts 2:1-4, 2:38). It was the best feelings I had ever felt.
Unfortunately I was still a troubled child. While I may have gotten the Holy Ghost I still didn’t know how to deal with the problems I had. By the time I turned 12 years old I had been put in a family home for my problems. For the next 4 years I was put through hell and then some. I went from a family group home, back home, then to a boys group home, and then to a boys correctional facility. These are the four hardest years of my life. I was even farther away from my family than before. So I was very alone and I didn‘t believe that God was going to help me since I had done so many wrong things.
During this time I always kept God at arms length. There when I needed him, but only then. When I finally came home to my mother when I was 16 years old things still were not good. By my 17th birthday I had decided to do everything wrong. I smoked marijuana everyday for nearly a year, partied every weakened, and started doing things that only pleasured my flesh. I had decided to do this only because my friends and I wanted to be different. Also, I had been locked away for 4 years so I wanted to have all the fun I could.
Stupidly on my grandfathers wedding day I got caught stealing. This was the start of bad things to come. This took place in September on Labor Day. By November I had stolen a couple of cars and committed many burglaries. At this point I decided to leave home. Two weeks later I was in the hospital because I could not breathe, I had strep throat. Unfortunately this didn’t change me. In January my friends and I decided to steal some cars and we got into an accident. Got caught and only through Gods will did I not go to jail or even get convicted. I started to realize the error of my ways.
Unfortunately more trouble was to come. In the two years I lived with my mom from 16 to 18 I had never gotten along with my step father. After all this happened I started to trust him and talk with him. Then a blow from the back knocked me to my knees. My step father had been cheating on my mom. In this time of turmoil I wanted to see him leave. My mom gave me a choice. She said either I stay or leave, so I left. She was so in love with him she put him before her kids. It hurt me pretty badly.
At this point I gave up the criminal life. After I had left juvenile I had not spoken to my father in a long time. After this I needed him and wanted him in my life. I came back to the Lord in August of 2006 and it has been a struggle. I have been up and down. I have definitely had my struggles. I didn’t follow God’s commandments and he dealt with me. Finally in May of 2008 I met Amy. She is an angel like no other. I thought that with her and God I could do anything. Well, unfortunately I fell and fell hard. I for some reason thought that it was alright to watch inappropriate movies.. In my life i had always thought that it was normal to do those things. In my life I had talked with family and even had a relationship where doing those things were "okay". I Thank God that she thought it was inappropriate. God also doesn’t approve either. He says In Psalms 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes; I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. Amy didn’t accept it neither and was strong enough to tell me so.
6 more months and I started to sin even more. Until one day I realized I was very lonely again. My friend Amy was my rock and she kept me going. At a Saturday night church service I dedicated my life for the third and final time to Jesus Christ. I now believe that I have a huge burden for God and I want to spend my life working to serve and worship him. Recently, I realized that I wanted to follow in Jesus’ footstep and reach the lost and broken. I want to reach the same people that Jesus was trying to reach. He says in Luke 4:18-19 The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. I want to spend my time in the ghetto trying to help God save lost souls. I mean I want to help save prostitutes, beggars, thieves and bums. Thus saying, I want to help Jesus save the lost and sick who have nothing else. I believe that Jesus didn’t walk around the city searching to save those who had everything in the world. I believe that he was trying to save those with nothing to lose and had everything to gain. I mean he saved me and I was at the lowest anyone could be. So why wouldn’t he be able to save them, too. What reason would he have to leave them behind?