I was born in Riverside, California and was one of seven children.  I was raised by the best two parents that any kid could ask for.  We were taught to be respectful, to work hard, and to believe in God.  We attended the Catholic Church and my mom would often say, "El que no pedi, Dios no ley ohyo."  Basically this means, "If you don't pray, God will not hear you.  Prayer is what will help us."  When you were raised in the city, belonging to a gang or club sometimes seemed like the only way to survive or fit in.  Consequently, my mother prayed a lot for her children as we were growing up.

          When I was about 14 years old, some friends invited me to attend a new church.  My friends told me a little bit about what to expect; they said that they talked in tongues, sang, and did not meet in a traditional church building.  I really did not know what they were talking about but I went to their church anyways.  I was rather surprised by some of the ways of this church but something touched my heart on that day.  At the end of church service, people were invited to come to the front and I went foward to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  I went to my knees and begin to weep, confessing all of my sins and asking for forgiveness.  I remember not wanting to leave the alter, as I felt something that I had never experienced before in my life.  It is was like all of my guilt and shame had been lifted off of me.  Afterwards, I went home and excitedly told my mom what had happened.  Needless to say, she was really was not too pleased at what had just occurred, as we had been brought up in the Catholic faith.  Mom put a quick end to things with a resounding "no" and when mom spoke, you listened!  After that, I felt like my life was at a standstill and I was not growing in the Lord, although I never completely left Him and I knew that God had not abandoned me.      

          Shortly after graduating from high school, I joined the United States Army.  As the years passed, I lived a life that was not pleasing to the Lord; I continued to live selfishly and the only thing that was important to me were the material things of the world.  Yet, when times grew tough, I would always talk to the Lord and cry out to Him.  Still, there appeared to be something missing from my life but I had no idea what it was.  I mean, I always had great jobs and plenty of money, so what could it be?  Little did I know that the Lord was calling me and drawing me nearer to Him. 

          As the Lord continued to work on me, my life began to radically change.  I started watching church services on television and began attending church regularly.  I recommitted my life to the Lord and He filled the emptiness that I had been feeling deep down inside of me.  Today, I am truly a work in progress, as I continue to grow in my faith and study the Word of God.  However, for the first time in my life, I feel fulfillment and contentment with who I am in Christ.  I know now that God was looking out for me despite that I had not been living a life that was pleasing to Him.  When I think of the path that I could have gone down, it becomes crystal clear that He was taking care of me all along.  The one thing that I have truly learned from my walk with the Lord is that He will never leave us or forsake us.  We can put our complete trust in Him!