|
| |
I was raised in a Christian home. As a child, was in Sunday School most every
week and always went to my grandparents churches VBS during the summer months.
So, I was exposed to the Gospel and knew who Jesus Christ was. But, I didn’t
understand what Christ could do for me and I thought I would have my whole life
to figure that our anyway, so I really didn’t care.
When I was 12 years old, I was introduced to drugs. It started out like a fun
thing to do. By the time I was 13 years old, it wasn’t just a fun thing anymore,
but it became a ruler of my life. I started experimenting with many different
types of drugs and at the same time became an alcoholic. I gradually stopped
going to church, became a very violent person, and cared about no one or
anything except for myself.
By the time I was 15, I didn’t even care about myself. I thought about suicide
on a regular basis and began to hate my life and the mess I was in. I thought
the only way out of the mess was suicide and I thought that sooner or later, I
would eventually choose that way in my life. I lived a very miserable and
unhappy life for the next two years. When I was 17 and on summer break between
my junior and senior year in high school, I spent almost everyday partying and
bringing myself closer to wanting to commit suicide. I had decided that sometime
in my senior year I would choose that way.
Then August 18, 1982, I was out partying and driving around with a few friends.
I let a friend drive my car, since I was to drunk to even see straight. The next
thing that happened changed my life forever. We started driving down a dirt road
that evening and my friend thought he was the best driver in the world. I saw
that we passed a sign that said that there was a 90 degree curve ahead. I told
my friend that he better slow down. He said that he could take that curve at 80
mph and he sped up. I knew we wouldn’t make it and I put my knees against the
dash board and waited for us to go off the road. Sure enough, the gravel was
loose and we went straight off the road into some trees. At that point
everything to me seemed to go in slow motion. We bounced off from one tree to
another tree and all that I was thinking through this was at the end, I was
going to die.
When we finally came to an abrupt stop from hitting a huge boulder, the car was
demolished, a girl next to me was screaming in pain (a broken neck) and I looked
up where my head had gone through the windshield and wondered if I was going to
die. I felt my head and it appeared to be bleeding very badly, as blood was
running down my arm, and I began to pass out. I thought that this was it and I
was dying. I don’t know how long I was out, but when I came to, and realized I
wasn’t dead, I touched my head and there wasn’t a drop of blood on me. The girl
next to me was still crying as she ended up with a broken neck. I crawled out of
the broken window and couldn’t believe that my legs didn’t even hurt as I caved
in the dashboard with my knees. I couldn’t even find a scratch on myself.
I began walking around the car and began thinking about how close I came to
death. All of a sudden, I began thinking about all things that were taught me a
s a child about Jesus Christ and His sacrifice He gave to me. Right after the
accident, I thought I was bleeding and dying, but when I came to, it was like I
had a second chance and all the wounds I thought I had were gone. And then I
realized that this was exactly what Christ did for me. He took my hopelessness,
all my wounds and death that were a result from sin, and went to the cross for
me. I got to the other side of the car and fell to my knees and gave my life to
the Lord. II Corinthians 5:17 says “If any man be in Christ, He is a NEW
CREATURE; Old things are passed away, and behold, all things become new.” I was
a drunk, drug addict, but when I got up from my knees, I was a child of the
living God. Thank you Lord for saving me and adopting me as your child!!!!
|
