From dog to God He allows U-turns
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by
kcgodlyman on
6/17/2009 9:31:11 PM
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I was raised in a household that was full of anger and shouting. My mother beat me and even broke my arm a couple of times. My father, on the other hand, smothered me in love. I was the go between in their broken marriage. At the age of 9 I decided to become an alcoholic; by the age of 12 I had succeeded. I started smoking pot at 15, doing speed at 16, cocaine at 17 and tried LSD for the first time at 18. Through the grace of God and some hard work by the Holy Spirit, I took a class in comparative religion. I was curious because I felt that God was a spiteful and vicious God, but everyone talked about His love and forgiveness. Then I spent the summer with a friend of my father's helping to build a cabin up near Lake Tahoe. The only book in the house was a well marked Bible. I was hooked! I gave my life to the Lord in those woods. A year later I became a Catholic and set out to go to seminary. After a year in seminary I realized I was called to be a family man and left broken and disillusioned. I returned to heavy drinking and drug usage. Collecting money for the dealers supported a very heavy cocaine habit for several years. One night I was driving on the 5 freeway and crying to the Lord because I hated my life and wanted everything to end. He told me to throw it away. I rolled down my window and threw several thousands of dollars worth of cocaine out the window. I was released from my addiction that moment and never suffered withdrawals or cravings. Then, at the age of 27, God's grace kicked in big time and I went to live on my grandparent's ranch. I started attending college and caring for their property. Liquor and pot were my two remaining vices, but then I started viewing pornography to ease the loneliness. In 1998 I met my wife and her 5 year old daughter. A month later I was clean and sober. In 1999 we married outside the Catholic church and began attending a non-denominational church. We immersed ourselves and became active in men's ministry, women's ministry, ushering, houses of prayer, and leading a small group study. In May 2001 I injured my back and went on worker's comp. In August 2001 we discovered my father had lung cancer and he moved in to City of Hope. A week after 9-11 my mother passed away following 20 years of illness. My father forgave her and prayed all night for her on the night she died. Three weeks later he followed her to heaven. My world was shattered and my church was not there for me; but Jesus was there through the whole ordeal. We began attending Assemblies of God and again became active members, but as active as before. In January 2002 I had my first back surgery, followed in May by a second surgery. We moved to Orange County, Ca in 2004. Our son was born the same year, following a very hard pregnancy. My faith in Jesus continued to deepen with every trial we faced. We found our current church the same day my wife told me she was pregnant with our son. Our new church family acted like our son was their grandchild and showered our family with love. I am now active once again in men's ministry and I teach a small group bible study once a week. The Lord has laid it on my heart to start up a ministry called Marriage Mentor's and I am finally starting to put it together. I am currently out on worker's comp with another back injury, and facing surgery number three most likely, but I am using my time off to work on the details of this ministry. God is wonderful and mysterious! He never lets go of us and is constantly calling out to us. Let they who have ears to hear listen to that call. Our 16 year old daughter is going to San Fransisco this summer to take art classes at an art school there, and our 4 year old son will start kindergarten in the fall. My life has been blessed over and over and I never cease to be amazed at how much the Lord has done for me over the years!
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Amen. God is so good and I love him no matter what.
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9/3/2009 10:00:03 PM
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stephanieross07, Member of Delve into Jesus since 9/3/2009
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Wow !!!! God does it again. He's wonderful and loves us so much.
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12/16/2009 6:29:09 PM
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jceep, Member of Delve into Jesus since 7/30/2008
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Its so amazing how God can turn a drug addict into someone very useful,Iam so happy for you my brother,its only God's grace we need to move on nomatter how wreckless we have been, the devil is a liar and does not want God's children to be happy,but I thank God you are managing.Your testimony has touched me me so much and I feel we should always trust only in God for a u-turn in our lives.May his name be praised forever and ever Amen.
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3/31/2010 5:23:22 AM
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anonymous
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