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I grew up in small military town in south Alabama. Regular kid, regular family. We went to church some but we werenโt committed. At 12 yrs old, I heard a fiery sermon and walked the aisle and repeated a prayer. Got baptized and thought I was right with God. The church I attended was very legalistic and very mostly unloving. I canโt recall ever hearing the gospel, but that could be because theologically I wasnโt able to hear it. I was by most standards a good kid. Straight Aโs, excelled in sports, and held down 2 jobs all thru high school.
Once I graduated, things went downhill quickly. We hadnโt been in church regularly for a couple years. The college I wanted didnโt want me. The girl I wanted didnโt want me. The life I wanted didnโt want me. I was angry, and mostly at God. I did all the right thingsโฆ So why wasnโt God working things out the way I wanted Him too? My parents were trying as best they knew how to get me to see that I had a bright future and did so with some tough love. My immature and prideful heart saw it as them smothering me and making decisions for me. I left their house after failing out of my first semester in college and fractured our relationship for years. I almost immediately starting drinking, followed by smoking weed and taking pills. It was a release but it wasnโt what I wanted. Then I tried cocaine. I was hooked.
After 8 months of everyday cocaine abuse, my gf confronted me about it and how I was stealing to support my habit. I confessed and begged for help. Four days later her dad introduced me to crystal meth. I spent the next seven years addicted to meth. In a moment of clarity about three years in, I wanted out and decided to join the military. I did well in basic and tech training and felt like my old self again. I ended up getting stationed out west in a big city. The party scene soon pulled me in and I started back on meth and ecstasy and alcohol. My wife (same girl I mentioned earlier) partied with me but resisted falling back into the scene. She couldnโt understand why I was doing drugs again. We ended up divorcing and I fell even deeper in with some gangs in the city.
I was eventually investigated by AFOSI for multiple crimes including distribution of methamphetamines on govt installations. By the grace of God they couldnโt amount enough evidence to court martial but I was given a general discharge. Once I got out, I hit rock bottom pretty quickly. Within months I was homeless. Called my parents and asked if I could I come home. They agreed but told me their only condition was that I had to attend church with them.
They found a loving church a couple years prior and my mom had been praying for me daily for two years. The people there loved on me and encouraged me to read the Bible. I did and began to fall in love with it. I began praying and communicating with the Creator. One night while reading the account of the death of Jesus in Matthewโs gospel, I began crying hysterically. I couldnโt believe what theyโd done to my Savior. The scales were gone. My heart was no longer stone, but now flesh. I was His. I became a child of God.
My hunger for the word was insatiable and I was growing rapidly. I met a woman who I thought was way out of my league. Our relationship grew strong very quickly and we got married. I finished my bachelors in education and began teaching and coaching in a local community. We now have a beautiful family and are actively involved in several ministries.
God redeemed every part of my troubled past. Heโs helped me restore all the brokenness I caused in my selfish pride. I canโt fully express how grateful I am and how much I want to do to show others His glory. Heโs redeemed my life here on earth and given me so much to be thankful for. But Heโs also given me eternal life and a hope and peace I never thought Iโd have. Soli Deo gloria forever and ever, amen!
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