My story
Here's a brief synopsis of my Christian life. This is important in order to have a general idea of where I'm coming from in a lot of these posts. I was raised in a nominally Catholic family (i.e.: we were forced to go to Mass every Sunday but my parents lived as they pleased during the week). My mom died of heart disease when I was 13 and by the time I was in high school I had stopped going to church altogether. I lived quite a decadent life trying to satisfy myself with alcohol and women. I married at 19 and it only lasted 2 years before we split up (partially due to my infidelity).
Right after my first wife and I split up, while I was in college, I began to feel an emptiness in my life. I continued to try to fill it with alcohol and women but it wasn't working. I felt lonely and depressed. Then I met a guy (an alumnus that came up for football games) that was different from all my drinking buddies. He was nice and had a sense of peace about him. He was quiet and seemed happy most of the time. I also noticed he kept a Bible in his car and always left for home early enough on Sundays to get to church. That was a strange concept to me.
Over time, I met more people that were "churchgoing" people who read the Bible. I didn't know it at the time but God was pulling me in.
I moved in with my brother and decided I wanted to read the Bible to see what all these other people were seeing in it. I started with the beginning (Genesis) and read straight through. By the time I got through the Gospels, in the spring of 1993, I was going to church regularly with my girlfriend (now wife); and in July of 1993 God changed my heart and I placed my faith in Jesus Christ to save me from the penalty of all my sins.
Since then, I've continued to learn more and more about the faith I've been given and I strive, through God's help, to become more like the one who saved me.
I understand there may be some terms and/or ideas in this story that you, the reader, may not be familiar with but I'm more than happy to discuss and explain these with any individual who asks.
Right after my first wife and I split up, while I was in college, I began to feel an emptiness in my life. I continued to try to fill it with alcohol and women but it wasn't working. I felt lonely and depressed. Then I met a guy (an alumnus that came up for football games) that was different from all my drinking buddies. He was nice and had a sense of peace about him. He was quiet and seemed happy most of the time. I also noticed he kept a Bible in his car and always left for home early enough on Sundays to get to church. That was a strange concept to me.
Over time, I met more people that were "churchgoing" people who read the Bible. I didn't know it at the time but God was pulling me in.
I moved in with my brother and decided I wanted to read the Bible to see what all these other people were seeing in it. I started with the beginning (Genesis) and read straight through. By the time I got through the Gospels, in the spring of 1993, I was going to church regularly with my girlfriend (now wife); and in July of 1993 God changed my heart and I placed my faith in Jesus Christ to save me from the penalty of all my sins.
Since then, I've continued to learn more and more about the faith I've been given and I strive, through God's help, to become more like the one who saved me.
I understand there may be some terms and/or ideas in this story that you, the reader, may not be familiar with but I'm more than happy to discuss and explain these with any individual who asks.
posted by Jim V. | 10:44 AM
1 Comments:
Jim, That is a really wonderful story and even though you have told me about it before, it still gives me a good feeling inside that you have found that "peace" that so many of us are looking for! I am still searching for peace and contentment in my life, so I find you to be very insperational! Thank you for including me in your "Blog"
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