What was life like before you met Jesus?
Before I met Jesus I was lost. It was like being in a pitch-black room trying to navigate. I was running on my own will, trying to control my own life. I thought God was the bad guy. I couldn't understand why things were happening in my life and why he was punishing me. I had a void in my life that I was trying to fill with external things, drugs, alcohol, my kids, women, anything, and everything else I could possibly imagine. I hated my life.
How did you meet Jesus?
I was homeless. I was in and out of jail completely in the throws of addiction. I had lost my kids, was divorced, I was completely broken. I was in jail and called my mom and my son got on the phone and started crying “Daddy I just want to come home!” After I got off the phone I went to my bunk and just cried “God help me I can't do this anymore, please save me.” God sent me a sign by bringing in a recovery program the very next day. It was through time spent in the Word that I realized that God had made me new in Jesus Christ and I have life in him! Ephesians 5:8-9 says “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.(for the fruit of the light is good and right and true.)”
After being saved by Jesus, what is your life like now?
Today I have been in recovery for almost 4 years. I have an amazing wife and my children are back in my life. God has also blessed me with 3 other children. Today I get to be a son again. I get to be a friend. There are still struggles in my life but I know God is there. God has answered all my prayers in one way or another. Today I can see where he works in every aspect of my life. It is because of God that I am here today. It is because of God that I am able to experience being a father, friend, husband, and son. Ephesians 2:8 says “for by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”