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My name is Todd, and I am proud to be a Christian.
Those words once flowed off my lips as naturally as a hello. It wasn't just a Sunday/Wednesday thing. I stood with 3 like minded friends every morning before school, and we joined hands around the flagpole and prayed for the school and everyone in it, as the majority of them laughed at us. I would testify and minister to anyone, no matter the personal cost to me. It was all for God, for His glory. And nothing could lead me astray.
Or so I thought.
Nearly 8 years ago, I faced the biggest trial that I had ever faced, and possibly ever will. My sister, who was only 27 years old, died on my birthday, May 1st, 2002. Without getting to far into the past, my sister and I had only had each other for many, many years. When she died, I let my heart get shut down. In anger, I questioned God and His love, and I turned my back.
For 7 and a half years, I wandered down a very dark path... To fill the emptiness in my heart and soul, I turned to drugs, alcohol, even the dark arts/witchcraft... I desperately sought to find my place in this world, having forgotten that my place is NOT IN THIS WORLD.
I wandered, and grew more bitter, more angry, and more hurt in time. Over time, people stopped telling me that they loved me, that Jesus loved me, that there was a better way... I went for many years without hearing any of these things...
I could tell tales of my years in the dark... I could fill a book about my fall and rise... bu this isn't about those years, this is about God working on a cold snowy February day.
I ran into an old friend of mine, a man named David R... A pastor and a long time friend of my family... When he saw me, he didn't hesitate, didn't shuffle his feet... He walked up to me and gave me a hug. Then, he told me that he loved me, but more importanty Jesus loved me. He said that he had missed me and never stopped praying for me.
I was dumbfounded. After so many years, feeling unloved and dejected, just like that, I was filled with such emotion that I broke down, right by the gas pumps, crying like a newborn... We went to get something to eat, and I told Dave about the last several years of my life, and that I desperately wanted to be back where I was. He told me to "pick up the cross... it was right where (I) left it..."
And so I did. I am fully rededicated to my walk with God. I am covered by the blood, and I will not turn astray again. I don't like the years that I spent away, but I know that my past has made me stronger, and that God will use my testimony to help others who have lost their way, and have strayed...
Praise Him forever! Jesus will reach the unreachable, sometimes in the simplest and most unexpected ways!
I love you all, and God Bless... thank you for reading my testimony. I hope it helps someone.
Those words once flowed off my lips as naturally as a hello. It wasn't just a Sunday/Wednesday thing. I stood with 3 like minded friends every morning before school, and we joined hands around the flagpole and prayed for the school and everyone in it, as the majority of them laughed at us. I would testify and minister to anyone, no matter the personal cost to me. It was all for God, for His glory. And nothing could lead me astray.
Or so I thought.
Nearly 8 years ago, I faced the biggest trial that I had ever faced, and possibly ever will. My sister, who was only 27 years old, died on my birthday, May 1st, 2002. Without getting to far into the past, my sister and I had only had each other for many, many years. When she died, I let my heart get shut down. In anger, I questioned God and His love, and I turned my back.
For 7 and a half years, I wandered down a very dark path... To fill the emptiness in my heart and soul, I turned to drugs, alcohol, even the dark arts/witchcraft... I desperately sought to find my place in this world, having forgotten that my place is NOT IN THIS WORLD.
I wandered, and grew more bitter, more angry, and more hurt in time. Over time, people stopped telling me that they loved me, that Jesus loved me, that there was a better way... I went for many years without hearing any of these things...
I could tell tales of my years in the dark... I could fill a book about my fall and rise... bu this isn't about those years, this is about God working on a cold snowy February day.
I ran into an old friend of mine, a man named David R... A pastor and a long time friend of my family... When he saw me, he didn't hesitate, didn't shuffle his feet... He walked up to me and gave me a hug. Then, he told me that he loved me, but more importanty Jesus loved me. He said that he had missed me and never stopped praying for me.
I was dumbfounded. After so many years, feeling unloved and dejected, just like that, I was filled with such emotion that I broke down, right by the gas pumps, crying like a newborn... We went to get something to eat, and I told Dave about the last several years of my life, and that I desperately wanted to be back where I was. He told me to "pick up the cross... it was right where (I) left it..."
And so I did. I am fully rededicated to my walk with God. I am covered by the blood, and I will not turn astray again. I don't like the years that I spent away, but I know that my past has made me stronger, and that God will use my testimony to help others who have lost their way, and have strayed...
Praise Him forever! Jesus will reach the unreachable, sometimes in the simplest and most unexpected ways!
I love you all, and God Bless... thank you for reading my testimony. I hope it helps someone.