This my story from being in denial and seeing God

Before I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord & Savior, I was living in denial that there was a God.

Even in my younger days, it was all about me. When I began school in the first grade you don’t expect problems. It was at that time I discovered I was different from my classmates. They were able to spell certain words or write them on the chalkboard. I couldn’t even understand how they did it. My parents sent me to doctors all the time to see why I had problems. They later found out that I had a learning disability with ADHD. Can you imagine the embarrassing times when the teacher would call your name to spell a word or write sentences? Then on top of this, my Dad was a college football coach and want his son to play football. When you have learning disabilities and ADHD your brain doesn’t function normally. Therefore, any sports that required a quick reaction to playing any position were not understood by me. Now you begin to see no importance in your life. This type of reality becomes so real that you become an angry person. You see, the biggest struggle in my life at that time was being different and misunderstood. My ADHD and learning disabilities were always highlighted in front of my peers. Therefore, I had a chip on my shoulder, and I didn’t trust anyone. I used people and I figured they did the same. It was also during these years I moved from Texas to Louisiana and then God begins my transformation into his child.

Then I discovered people who really cared about me, and genuinely had an interest in my life. This type of caring opened my heart to hear God's love for me.

The one thing that changes in my life is my outlook on life. I see people differently now. I no longer view them as uncaring but as someone who needs to see the same love that was demonstrated in my neighbors.

When we moved from Texas to Louisiana, I met Billy and Susan, they were my next-door neighbors. We became good friends and played together. Later I met Jay and we all played together. Billy, Jay, and I played street football and basketball all the time. One day while playing ping pong I think Susan asked me if I knew God as my Lord and Savior. I don’t remember my answer completely, but it wasn’t a nice response. Then one week Jay’s Church had an evangelist coming to speak, so Jay asks me to come. I told him no, I think two times. Then one night they ask me, and I said yes. Now I hadn’t been in a church since leaving Texas, so about 8 years. When I arrive at this church, I was extremely nervous. I remember hearing the evangelist speaking about Jesus coming soon and that those who did believe in him would go to hell. Well, I was so scared I went forward when He asks us to give our lives to Jesus as Lord and Savior. Then He asks us to go to the back of the church into a little room and the men would give us further instructions. I remember seeing about 20-30 people doing the same thing I was doing. I remember not completely understanding what happened, but a change came over my life. My friends saw a complete change in me, I was no more cursing at them or anybody else. All I wanted to do is talk about Jesus and share my new faith. It wasn’t until later when I was watching Billy Graham on TV that I realized I was a new person in God’s eyes. I become born again accordingly to John 3:3 “3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” and realize based on 2 Corinthians 5:17 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away: behold, the new has come.”. This new life was difficult at first because some of my friends didn’t understand the changes in me. They thought I was going through some sort of identity crisis and I would soon be back to my old self.

My faith is based on God's eternal truth his word, not my feelings