So I was thinking the other day I should post some background info on myself. So here we go.
Well I grew up Catholic and as a kid I really was into my faith and didn't really question anything and I prayed but I know now I really didn't understand why or what Jesus was all about. My family really wasn't very religious or spiritual and I think it was around the age of 14 I really started to question things and started to loose my faith. After that I pretty much wondered around spiritually. I came up with my own theories on how stuff worked in regards to heaven, hell, God, etc. I did know one thing though. I didn't want anything to do with Christianity. I guess I was a bit jaded by some of the hypocrisy I saw in the Catholic church and in others who called themselves Christian. By the time I had graduated from high school I was what one would call agnostic and faith or spiritual matters really didn't have a place in my life. This pretty much carried on into college.
In college nothing much really changed. I really started to party too much and my grades suffered horribly. I went to one year at the University of Nebraska and then called it quits to go to a smaller 2 year school, Southeast Community College. Well during my time off (I ended UNL in the summer and started at SCC in January of the following year) I worked and didn't really change much. I did party less but my life went pretty much the same. Some of the tension between my girlfriend (at the time) and me got bad about religion. We were engaged but I still wanted nothing to do with Christianity and she was a Christian. It caused some arguments but I really didn't think it was a big deal. Well now that I look back I know it was a big deal. I ended up cheating on her in college (SCC) and then later on when I moved to Colorado after college in 1999. In retrospect it was a good thing that she broke up with me (but that does not excuse my behavior). I was wrong for her and she was wrong for me.
So there I am in Colorado. Thinking my life is pretty good. Well that was until my fiance broke up with me. I was really upset that she broke up with me. Which was rather silly of me because I was the one who ruined the relationship. So then I go into a bit of a depression. I didn't really leave my apartment for a couple months except to go to work. Well I got over that with some help from friends. Still no God in the picture though but now that I look back I see that He was leading me down a path but I had to go through some stuff first.
So back to me thinking I had a pretty good life. Decent job and some great friends but I was still looking for more but I didn't realize that at the time. So in 2001 I decide that I should start dating again. Well I met a girl and was so happy about that I jumped right into a serious relationship. Way too fast. Before I knew it I was in this serious relationship with someone who I really didn't want to be with and I didn't know how to end it. I didn't want to hurt her so I let it just go on and was getting more and more unhappy about things. I hated my job as well. Well in March of 2002 I didn't have to worry about that job anymore. I got laid off. The funny thing is that I really wasn't upset about it. It was kind of like a new start. Not long after that I broke up with my girlfriend. That lasted about a week. I felt bad about her feeling bad about the break up so I said I would give it another try. HUGE MISTAKE. All this time I am looking for a new job in Denver. Well the job search was going bad as was my relationship. A friend's wedding was coming up in Nebraska and I thought it would be good to see old friends again. This was in June of 2002. Also at that time I had been talking quite a bit online to one friend in particular. This friend is currently my wife. There were defiantly romantic feelings there but neither one of us really knew what to do. I had a girlfriend and lived about 7 hours away. Two major issues if I wanted to get into a relationship with Avril.
Well I go back for the wedding and I have a wonderful time with Avril. Another issue comes up. Her ex is one of my friends. Now some will say that is something you just don't do. Well their breakup (which happened more than a year before this) involved him cheating on her. So my thoughts were that he was not interested in her anymore since it had been so long since they dated and that he had pushed her away. Well I was wrong. Long story short, some things were said by myself and by him and we aren't friends anymore. This was not something I wanted to have happen but it did. I have since apologized to him and while he did accept the apology he is not interested in being friends again. On a positive note that was the same weekend Avril and I both expressed to each other that we were both in love with each other. It was while I was on my way back to Colorado that I decided that I was going to move back to Nebraska. One thing though. I had to break up with my current girlfriend again and hurt her again. This break up didn't go well either. I said some things that were mean and we parted on very poor terms. We talked again later on and we ending things on better terms.
So in August of 2002 I move back to Nebraska and begin dating Avril. It is great. Then I find out she is a Christian. Wow the one thing I didn't know about my friend of about 6 years is that she is a Christian. Well Avril said under no uncertain terms that our relationship could not go any further if we were not on the same page spiritually. This was a turning point for me. I was taken aback at first. Well I decided to give it a shot. What harm could it do? Well no harm at all I find out. Avril showed me the sinners prayer and explained how to be saved all I have to do is honestly accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. I was excited and a bit unsure at first but I knew that my life was changing.
On December 6th 2002 I asked Avril to marry me. Over our engagement I really didn't grow much in my spirituality. I really didn't know what I was doing. We started going to a church but it just didn't feel right and I started to become a bit disenchanted about the whole church thing. I still believed in Christ but really didn't know were I was heading in my walk with Him. One thing did help though. The pastor that married us really showed me what it was like to have a relationship with God during our premarriage counseling. At the time he was an associate pastor at the church Avril and I were attending off and on.
So after we were married in December of 2003 we attended church here and there and I still felt a bit lost in my faith and felt very disconnected at the church. It was during this time that we hear that David (the pastor that married us) is going to start a new church in town. We think "cool we need to check that out". Well we kind of forgot the name of the new church in the mean time. Still we were kind of standing still in our spirituality. But all that was about to change. In January of 2005 Avril was talking to a good friend on the phone about a guy they went to college with. Avril's friend was saying that this guy was the youth pastor at a new church in Lincoln. We were pretty excited about a new church. Avril asked her friend the name of the church and the name of the head pastor. Talk about a small world. The pastor is David. So we go the next Sunday. It was awesome. We walked in the door and immediately feel like we are a part of their church family. We were warmly greeted and after the service someone we never even met before asked to pray for us. We know we had found our church family. David is truly a man who loves the Lord and the Spirit speaks through him. His preaching truly brings glory to God
Well fast forward to today. It has been an interesting ride and it just gets better everyday. Each day my faith grows and I love it. To be in the presence of the Holy Spirit is a glorious thing. I have been reading allot of books on faith and God and the bible. We have a bible study and I really enjoy reading the bible and learning from it. Now I look back on the events of my life and can see how they were orchestrated to get me into God's plan. But in the end I had to make that all important choice to submit to God or do it on my own. Well doing it on my own never worked out so good so I'll stick with God. Through Him all things are possible. I praise God everyday for bringing Avril and I together. We are truly blessed by the wondrous things that God has done in our lives and in the lives of others around us. I just can't wait to see what He has in store next.
