Introducing Me: A Testimony

Note to the Reader I have decided that it was time to share a little bit more than what has been shared on my about me page.  In other words I have decided to share about a different part about my life Than just the outside.  I am going to be sharing my heart with you all, so It is about to get real here for a second.  Before I start I want you all know that there are some parts of my life that might be hard for you all to swallow, and other parts that are easier.  I just feel like God has put it on my heart to share my testimony online with all of you.  I also Want you all to know that I am being super vulnerable, and taking a step in faith.  Another Reason why I decided it was time to share my testimony is because I felt like I should start the summer with my heart is because I felt like I should start the summer with where I stand and end, Jesus Christ. Without further ado, I give you Introducing Me: A Testimony. 

  My testimony is not a spectacular testimony.  There are no parts that deal with drugs and alcohol, and other things.  It is just your somewhat typical Pastors Kid testimony, and unlike other testimonies it starts before I was born.  In other words, just giving some background to my story.  Not giving to much away about the Identities of my birth parents, My birth mom had a rough background growing up.  She got married to a man who was an Alcoholic and abusive.  She got divorced before she had me, and said that this is not the best place for my to grow up in, so she put me up for adoption.  Not long after my Mom and Dad signed up to get me.  It was between them and another couple.  I was born in 1996 and sent to a caretakers house for  a little while, until the decision was made.  That decision was that my Mom and Dad that I have now would get to have me.  

A few years passed, and they took me to church every single week, unless I was sick.  Finally when I was in kindergarten (I believe).  I did something wrong and was very sorry about it, and my Mom and Dad gave me the typical "you're a sinner speech" and forgave me (Like God does), resulting in me saying the prayer and becoming a quote-on-quote Christian, without knowing the full detail of what it took.  

Later in life I started getting involved in school activities and other leagues Mainly baseball with the Lake Villa Little league resulting in a high of becoming a champion and retiring from baseball come the next summer (which was my 5th grade year).  But come Middle school I started changing from this nice kid to kind of a jerk.  But it wasn't that visible until now, as I have started to look back on my life.  In middle school, my life started to get harder.  During this part of my life I was also getting bullied a ton.  In fact (just to give an example) I got called "Gay" enough times that I actually started to believe it.  I started to question my Identity in my family, in my friend groups, and most depressingly in Christ.  

At this point in my life I wasn't practicing my faith at all, because like I said earlier in this article, I just said the prayer without understanding what I was signing up for.

Then came Lake Ann and Fresh Start.  For those of you who do not know what that is, Lake Ann is a camp outside of Traverse City, MI.  There is several programs there ranging from young children, to Elderly and married couples.  The week that my church typically went there were three programs including, Juniors, Jump Start, Junior High, Fresh Start, and Senior High.  This summer I went to Fresh Start and was really challenged by a lot of the messages that we had during the week.  The most significant of these was A message when we (the rest of the campers and I) were sitting on a grassy area right above a cliff and I was taken aback that God did all of this (this being created the world with all of these details).  But still I did not confirm my faith.  This is where my life starts to get hectic. 

My freshman year of high school was probably one of the worst years of my life.  I got bullied constantly.  From the bus ride to the bus ride home.  It was awful.  But I kept going (See the quote on top of the page) and dealt with it all year.  The only thing that kept me through was my Music, which I do articles on.  

But one day My main High School bully decided to make my life hell.  So first off, that morning he decided to attempt to push me in the Balls (I took Exception).  Then On the bus ride home he decided to sit behind me and do something that I have not forgotten and probably never forget (The article is about to take a not so family friendly turn here).  He grabbed my hood and tugged for the majority of the bus ride.  Everyone that was sitting around us was not really doing anything Until i did the equivalent of uncle, which was shout stop. Then people started getting involved and telling him to stop, one of my friends told him that i could press charges.  I got my "lawyer" on the phone (which was my grandpa) and started talking to him.  At that point he started to realize me.  And eventually let me go.  Then low and behold Blessed Be Your Name (the live version) by the newsboys Came On.  And I found my favorite verses.  The Verses are Isaiah 40: 28-31 and 41:10-13 (below)

Have you not known? Have you not Heard? The Lord is the Everlasting God, The Creator of the Ends of the Earth.  He does not Faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.  He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.  Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;  But they who wait for the Lord Shall Renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles; They shall run and not be weary; They shall walk and not Faint.  Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed for I Am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my Righteous Right Hand.  Behold All who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek Those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who wage war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, The Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you "Fear Not, I am the one who helps you." (Isaiah 40: 28-31; 41: 10-13)

That was were things started to look up given the circumstances.  After going home and balling my eyes out I prayed for the first time in ages. The rest of the school year flew by for me after talking to my dean about the abuse I had received.

Then over the summer was the first year of the senior high program for me, and it was the year That everything changed.  The speaker for the senior high program (Ken Rudolf), is always good, but This week especially was spectacular, Because all the messages spoke to me directly.  Then, on the Thursday I rededicated my life to Christ with an even fuller understanding of what the life of a Christian is like.  The Life of a Christian is more along the lines of God than I was practicing before, more about fellowship than I was practicing before, more about forgiveness than I was practicing before, and more about confessing than I was practicing before.  Regarding the forgiveness Thing, I would forgive That bully that I mentioned before in a heartbeat.

The rest of High school like I said before, FLEW.  Then, before I knew it , I was in my senior year.  That year was were I really started to put my Faith into action and the thing That kicked it off Was the Hits Deep Tour at the Sears Center, With My favorite artist Tobymac, Second Favorite artist (now) Capital Kings, and needless to say Colton Dixon.  The Artist that made the biggest impact on me that night Was Toby and the story behind his song Speak Life.  When He was talking about the song speak life, It almost made me cry and think about what am I going to do about this, So I went to Voices (an anti Bullying club at my school) and brought up an idea of what to do which was put signs all over the school with positive messages.  Everyone in the room liked the idea so we put it to a vote, and low and behold.  The Speak Life project was underway.  So we each made about 3,000ish handwritten notes and put them on every single locker, and according to my sister and what I saw first hand, the ones from my senior year were still up at the beginning of my freshman year of college. 

Then that summer I went to Lake Ann again for the last time, had an amazing team and got nominated for team captain.  But during the last day of the weeks quiet time Something amazing happened.  I was freaking out because of college and stuff and not knowing what to do with myself I said a prayer asking God what he wants me to do and it was going somewhere into ministry but in a weird way.  During the prayer The wind Picked up majorly, and I felt this peace about me.  Then that same day during the nap time I had a dream about working with some age group because the faces were blurred.  I ended up going to Trinity International University studying Christian Ministries for a year and a half.  But then realized that the type of schooling wasn't for me.  So right now I'll be going to College of Lake County for a couple of Years and see where God Leads me. Lord willing it would be in radio, but who knows at this point.

In the weeks leading up to Trinity, however, My families shelter got absolutely rocked.  My Grandma Passed away due to cancer and around the same time, my Mom got Diagnosed with Breast cancer.   My mom had to have a major surgery, and the cancer got stopped, so it has not all been milk and cookies since my life changed,  But my life did get significantly better, and it can do to the same for
you.

So the moral of this story is really quite simple.  It Gets better.  So in the words of Winston Churchill "If you are going through Hell, Keep going, Don't slow down.  If you're scared Don't show it. You might just get out before the devil even know you're there."  This was most defiantly True in my life and I hope this testimony helps you if you are going through some crap right now.

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I know that you guys were probably caught off guard by this article because it is pretty raw, but thank you for reading it.  Please feel free to comment, follow, and/or share on any social media sites.  If this article did anything for you I would like to know, and help you if I can in any way.
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