My brief testimony

It was the fall of 2002 and I had just graduated high school and began my first semester of college at Erie Community College.  I was debating on joining the military still and I had no desire whatsoever to be in college.  I remember I used to walk into class for attendance and then go home to play Madden for PlayStation 2 everyday.

Well needless to say my GPA was like a 1.10 and I joined the Marine Corps barley a month into school.  I had sort of reached this point in my life where I was devastated with the break up of my high school sweetheart and I was tired of washing dishes for $5.50 an hour.  I knew at that moment that if I stayed in Buffalo as I was, I would never amount to much more than an average Joe.

I had no discipline, I was weak and I had no desire to stay washing dishes or working in a restaurant the rest of my life.  Not that there is anything wrong with people that do that.  It just wasn't for me.

Though something amazing transpired and transformed my life forever in that failure of a semester in college.  I was in this math course and I saw this pretty cute girl everyday so I sat near her and we started to slowly chat.  I had noticed that she was bringing a book to class that wasn't like a math book.

So I asked her, What is that book you bring to class?  She opened it up and it was daily bible verses and I thought wow this girls cute and she loves church?  Who loves church at 18 years old? Haha..  I was so confused, but we spent a great deal of time one day on the subject of God and I was telling her my background and turns out she invites me on a Tuesday night to the youth group at her church.

So I'm thinking ok I'm devastated right now.  I need a little God in my life and it wouldn't hurt to hang out with a cute girl that's connected to God.  Well I sat outside of that church for like 30 minutes and I even think I went in late.  I was hesitating to go in because I couldn't understand who goes to church on a Tuesday night.  Definitely not me!

When I walked in finally.  I told the people it was my first time and my friend invited me and they all knew who she was and my God they were some of the nicest people in the world.  I was like what the heck is going on. Why are people my age so nice and again why are they at church on a Tuesday?

The Youth Pastor that night and the band would deliver an amazing message and by the end I was raising my hand to accept Christ into my life.  I had no clue what I was doing, yet I felt so alive.

I would spend the next few months before leaving to bootcamp at this group every Tuesday and church on Sundays and honestly she saved my life and there was no way I could've went through four years in the Marine Corps.. Iraq and Afghanistan without Jesus.

So many times I found myself talking to Jesus when I was absolutely scared to death.  My faith always told me, that it was all in his hands.  Psalm 23- Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.

My faith was what got me through the dark days and also led me to do some amazing things.  I did though spend a great deal of time running from God. I got into heavy drinking, blaming the world, mixed up with some wrong crowds etc... but long story short I'm not perfect and God was still there the whole entire time.

Currently I have returned back to the start.  It's so amazing to me that no matter how far I run, how much I hide, how badly I screw up.  God is still there.  And he makes all things new.  It's my hope for you that no matter where this message finds you today, that you find your way home or back home.

God has plans for you. Plans to restore you. Plans to give you hope and a great future. Jeremiah 29:11

What a journey. Lead on great leader.  Thank you Jesus.

Laying The Foundation

God's been really pressing this on me and giving me a serious revelation, and I can't get it out of my head. So, I'm going to share it hope in that some way it blesses you wherever you may be.

"Build the foundations of your life on rock and not on sand."

It's biblical that the wise man builds his house upon the rock and the foolish man builds his house upon the sand.  I'm not just talking about your house you live in either.  I'm talking about your philosophies, your relationships, your lifestyle choices.. etc.  

Over the past year or so I've been really soaking that phrase in. I believe it is that quote that can make or break our life's.  

Obviously we are all going to be met with life's unexpected storms, but the one question we must constantly ask ourselves is how strong is our foundation?

Laying a solid foundation is the key to building anything long-term. People often wonder why things fall apart so easy. 

In my opinion, You have to ask yourself when your life feels like it's falling apart: 

Did you build that (business, relationship, family, lifestyle... etc) on a weak foundation? 

Was it a rush to show you matter?  

Was it pride/ego?  
Was it to prove something to someone? 
Was it to keep up with the neighbors or the Jones's? 

Did you rush something so much that you completely skipped the foundation?

A weak foundation will almost always never withstand the first few storms.

However, a solid foundation will always withstand the storms of life. Strong foundations take much longer.  They are carefully crafted. A brick may come loose, but you don't move forward until it is laid properly.

Regardless of your current political affiliations here's a great example. 

Think about this: The foundation of America has withstood how many storms? And we are still here today. The foundation was tested many times, wars, the economy, scandals... Yet the flag still stands because of what our forefathers laid down a few hundred years ago. 

The forefathers built our country to last.

If you want to build something long-term you have to build it brick by brick with patience. By slowly laying one brick at a time the foundation of that (business, marriage, family.. Etc) will become more and more solid to the point the storms will have a tough time destroying anything that comes it's way.

Where do you find yourself today?

The harsh reality we all face is we are the sum total of all of our past choices and actions. Yes! Where we are today is our fault. Instead of pointing the blame externally which we quite often tend to do, it takes courage to look at the person in the mirror and own up.

I hope your present circumstances find you well. I hope your winning in this life and enjoying every single day! However, if your present circumstances don't look good. Don't worry your life's not over. You're still breathing. It's your chance to start over, renewed and refreshed! 

The one question I've asked myself plenty of times this year, I'm going pose to you. 

Is your current foundation built upon rock or on sand?

God Bless :)