It gives me great pleasure to be able to share my story to those who are open to it. There will never be a movie made of my life, but it’s mine.
I was so fortunate to be born to loving parents who loved Jesus and loved being part of a church family. I was raised in a great church. I still remember the nursery workers that held me and fed me crackers. I had great children’s teachers that taught me all the Jesus stories and how to excel in “Bible Drills,” where we raced as a class to see who could get to a Bible verse first. I had great junior high teachers that expanded on what I had learned earlier. And I had great Senior High teachers who tried hard to help me to grow, but I had social things on my mind.
I was baptized as a 10 year old for all the wrong reasons. To make my parents proud, to make my teachers proud, and because all my friends were getting baptized. Oh, I had head knowledge. I was awesome at Bible Drills. And I could answer any Bible story question. But I did not know Jesus personally.
I found freedom in college that I never had had before. I was all about myself and having fun. I became extremely selfish and everything I had learned as a child was stored in the basement of my mind. This lifestyle continued after my graduation and through the first years of our marriage where all I could think about was getting through the week and living for the weekend, not about God, nor my wife, but Dennis Lewis. Without me being fully aware, my life was silently falling apart.
At age 27, I met Jesus for real. While running a half marathon on a Sunday morning, I was run over by a car that had accidently found its way onto the course. For the next two weeks while lying in a hospital bed, Jesus moved from my head into my heart. What many thought was a tragedy was the greatest thing that has happened or will happen in my life! This time baptism was real!!! I shouted to the world, “I am a Jesus follower!””
Jesus, through His perfect love, offered me a do-over. And man what a do-over He has given me!!! He has given me a great desire to spend time with Him, which causes me to be drawn closer and closer to Him. He has given me a peace that I never had before, a hope that I lean on during those really hard times, and a comfort that I know can only come through Him. He has taken my eyes off myself and helped me to see other people as He does. He has restored a marriage that was falling apart and now He is the center of our marriage! He has given me two children, a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law, two grandsons and a granddaughter that love Jesus deeply.
Don’t get me wrong…I still have many struggles and temptations. I just know who to go to now! I love the last sentence in 2 Chronicles 20:12 which says, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”