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A New Beginning | |
| I've gone to church ever since I can remember. My mom helped in the nursury and my dad taught my Sunday school class. A life with Jesus was the only life I knew. As a little kid, it was the only life I lived. When I was 13 I found out my parents smoked marijuana. To me, that was a huge deal. At that time, my older brother was also getting into his share of trouble. Partying was his main thing and not my parents nor the police could stop him. With all this going on in my house, I can honestly say, it made me very curious about what that "high" everyone was talking of felt like. I figured it was something amazing since my family was going behind everyone else's back to it(even mine). So I asked my older brother if he would smoke with me for my first time. And he did. Everything changed the minute I took that first hit. My thoughts on drugs, me, life, and God. Nothing was the same. Marijuana soon became something I strieved for everyday. It soon became the center of my world. Not long after, that drug became pretty old. I then heard about ectacy. I was told that the high you get from that would be like no other. They were right. I enjoyed that drug so much I would take it almost every weekend. By the age 14, I had already experienced with marijuana, ectacy, cocaine, LSD, crank, just popping pills, and basically any drug that came around. Drugs was my life. It was everything I wanted and needed. If times came that I didn't have any or any money to get it, I would do anything for it. Even if it meant having to sell myself. I became addicted to being high. About this time, my parents grew stronger in their walks with God. They got off marijuana and were doing what they could to get me to have a relationship with God like they knew I needed. I wouldn't do it. I was enjoying my rebelious teen behavior. I somewhat knew I had a problem with drugs, but I didn't care. I liked drugs and I didn't want any help. In school, I as rarely ever going to class and my grades were dropping serverly. I also started having a sexual relationship with my track coach at school. He would invite me to his house to "babysit" his five year old son. Babysitting isn't exactly what I got paid for doing. At his house, I received free ectacy, a night of non stop partying, sex, and money. It was every girl drug addict's dream. After a few months of "babysitting", we stopped our secret parties. I stopped going to track practice because I felt uncomfortable seeing and quit going to school in fear that someone found out and would comfront me about it. At age 15, I became a high school drop out. My drugs got more intense and my life was getting nearer nearer to hitting rock bottom. Like all parents, mine soon got feed up with my sneaking out, running away, parting, attitude, ect. They sent me away to a center called Teen Challenge. Teen Challenge is a Christian based program, so being in there for just a couple months, I learned so much about Jesus Christ. But even learning about Him non stop day after day for months did nothing for me. I ran away from that program. Unfortunatly, I got caught and was sent back. After being in there six months, you can't even imagined how much I learned about our almight God. I was in love with Him so much. But I felt as if that program isn't where I needed to be. I felt as if I needed to be out in the world witnessing to others. So, another girl and I decided to run away and help lead people to Christ. That's exactly what we did. We hichhiked around Florida for a few days telling everyone that came across our path about Jesus and the wonderful life he had to offer. After a few days, we needed a familiar place to rest our heads. My partner mentioned a place she lived for about a year before she moved to Florida, Troy, Alabama. I was shocked considering we were in Daytona, Florida. But I agreed anyway and off we went. The minute we arrived there, everything we had runway for(witnessing) seemed as if it had just left our minds. We weren't doing anything we had planned. We were just hanging out. We soon got back into drugs and that partying habbit we were sent away for. Not long after, we got splitted up. I stayed with this guy that got me using crank again. That's what I did all day, everyday for two weeks straight. Smoke crank. After about the thirteenth, fourteenth, or fifteenth day of being on it, my stomach was aching, my head was throbbing, I was so pale. I hadn't eaten or slept in two weeks and I weighed ninty-two pounds. I was feeling and looking extremely sick. So sick, that I cried out to God. I told Him that I was sorry and that that wasn't the way I wanted things to end up. I asked Him for help. Since God is such a loving God, an amazing and unbelievably generous God, He helped me. That day, this family that lived right across the street from a small church in this old abandoned motel that the pastor bought for families with poor financial needs could lived allowed me to stay with them . They welcomed me in with open arms as one of their own children. They helped me get off drugs, and start, again, an extraordinary relationship with God. Even though I lived there without electricity for a few weeks, I still wouldn't have picked a better place. I stayed with that family for about three weeks until one day my dad just came knocking on the door. My dad drove from Naples, Florida to Troy, Alabama to come get his only daughter, and that's exactly what he did. When he told me that God lead him to where I was, I wasn't surprise because I, from experience, knew God answered prayers. I was gone for five weeks not including the six months I spent in the program. But now I'm finally home. Life is great! I'm seventeen and have my GED, a job at a Christian book store, and I'll be starting college at Palm Beach Atlantic University in the fall. Jesus saved my life. He gave me a new beginning. I ask myself everyday, where would I be without Jesus today? I don't even want to think about it. I was living a life that the reward was nothing but torture in hell for eternity. But Jesus saved me from that! My reward now is Jesus' undying love and eternity with Him in Paridise. What more could I ask for?
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