My Testimony

I was born and raised in a Christian home, and my mother made that possible. If it was not for my mother and her devotion to God, I am not sure where I would have ended up in life. She showed me godliness, and always was involved in church activities. My Dad was a different story as I was growing up. He was an alcoholic and worked (usually nights) as a machinist at a plant nearby. I thank God that, even though I was around alcohol so much growing up, I did not plunge into that oblivion in my life. My parents had a very tough marriage, and we did not have very much money. I had the privilege of attending a church camp in my youth, and accepted Jesus as my savior when I was around 7 or 8 at this particular camp. I understood what he meant in John 3:16 when Jesus said: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." and also Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.".

When I was around 13 years old, my parents had major financial issues, along with marital issues. We were headed toward living homeless in Lincoln. My father basically left us, and went to Western Nebraska, in a house which his parents owned. A couple weeks later, thankfully, we followed him there, and I said goodbye to Lincoln, and hello to Oshkosh. We moved into a fairly run-down house, that was very small. This was the toughest part of my life, with a slight culture shock moving from the city to a small town. My father quit drinking, mainly because he values reputation very highly and his parents lived close by. During these times I was just going with the flow, and Jesus was definitely not my focal point. I was not involved in anything serious, such as drugs, but I lived mostly of the world and not of God. I think this continued until the end of my freshman year in college.

I participated in a program called Project Impact, in which I learned so much about myself and about God that it would make my mind explode. I think this is the point in my life in which I realized how "Christian" I was. It showed me how to actually live as a follower of Christ should, along with many other things. After this summer program, I participated in Sudden Impact, a seminar that was for men, and it had me deal with a lot of things in my past, and also things that I was dealing with in the present.

If you are reading this, and having a tough time going through life, know that having a personal God is not a weakness, but a strength. We cannot go through this life alone, and even though we feel as though the world is crushing us, there is Jesus that is your answer. Though comfort will not occur unless you make the choice to give yourself as a living sacrifice to Him. If you want more info, look up and read John chapter 3, or shoot me an email with any questions.