I was raised in a religious home, attended religious schools, and went to church my entire childhood.  During this time, I was taught about Christianity, along with other religions.  Consequently, I was aware of who Jesus was but it had no immediate impact on me.  You see, I was a rather rebellious young man and as soon as I became old enough to make decisions for myself, I stopped going to church.  Needless to say, my parents were not very pleased with my decision.  However, I kept insisting that I would start attending church 'next week,' knowing full well that I had no intentions of going.  As a result, I went through my late teens and early adult years doing exactly what I felt like, which usually led to doing the wrong things!  After a while, I grew tired of my sinful practices and my life began to feel empty and unfulfilled; I knew that there had to be something more to life!

          After graduating high school, I attended college and met a beautiful young lady that captivated me.  Therefore, I convinced her to go for a walk with me after class one day.  During one part of our conversation, Heidi told me that she she believed in Jesus and in God.  I was kind enough to inform her that her faith and prayer were due to brainwashing!  Although we did not agree with one another on this topic, there was no denying the fact that there was this mutual attraction between us.  Hence, we began to date and Heidi invited me to her house one day; I met her family and they were really nice!  Her father would always pull me aside and talk to me about Jesus; he would recount scriptures and stories in the Bible, knowing full well that I had no idea about what he was talking about.  Little did I know but he was planting seeds deep down inside my soul, while delivering a salvation message as well.  I have to admit, much of what her father told me about God's plan for my life sounded pretty good!

          After numerous invitations from Heidi, I hesitantly attended her church one Sunday morning.  Wow I thought, were those people really strange!  Furthermore, it appeared that the minister was preaching his sermon directly at me!  Needless to say, I left the church feeling very uncomfortable and I had no plans on returning!  Shortly after, out of respect for Heidi's father, I attended what they called a Full Gospel Businessmen Meeting that I was invited too.  Although feeling extremely uneasy, while being an unwilling recipient of prayer, I sensed God's presence for the first time in my life; He began to soften my heart and radically change me on the inside.  Later, I was invited to play in a basketball tournament by that same 'weird' group of guys from church;  it turned out, that they were really not so strange after all!  Thereafter, I found myself hanging out with them more and began attending church regularly.  The day came when I surrenedered all of my stubborn ways, preconceived ideas, and my entire life over to Jesus!  He forgave me for all of my sins and filled the void in my life that had been missing; finally, my life felt complete!  Heidi and I have since been married and we have been happily living a life for Jesus ever since!