I will not go into detail about the reasons behind or the circumstances of what led me to finding GOD. The reasons behind it all and the circumstances that led to my salvation are too disturbing, too shocking and still to raw for me to talk about at this time. However, the circumstances that led me to GOD are not nearly as important as the journey I took and where that journey led me.
I had been through a tough situation. A bad divorce and the loss of a job that I loved. I felt like I had hit rock bottom. But, somehow I learned how to piece it all back together and I was stronger than ever. I was on top of the world! Everything seemed to be going my way. And I had done it all on my own without the help of anyone. At that time in my life I didn’t think that I needed anyone’s help. In reality I had never been so lost.
And then I fell into the valley. The valley of sorrow, grief, despair and self pity. It wasn’t because of anything that I had done. I mean, I wasn’t a bad guy. I worked every day. I didn’t drink and I didn’t use drugs. I was a good husband and a good father. I was reliable. I was a Deputy Warden of a prison. People who knew me would tell you, “Yeah, he’s a good guy.” But, I fell into the valley anyway. Actually I felt more like I had been pushed into the valley. Irregardless of how I got there I found myself there and I walked in that valley for eight long years. Everyday it seemed like I slipped a little further into the valley. It got worse every day. People I trusted turned on me and some simply forgot about me. Some people who supported me passed away. I lost two uncles and my Father during my time in the valley. I was devastated. At times I was without hope. At times I questioned my faith. Eventually I discovered that I was no longer walking through the valley. I was crawling through it. I started going to church hoping to make my situation better. Things only got worse because I had not yet learned that being a Christian was not about going to church every time the doors were open. Being a Christian meant that my life and my heart had to change. My relationship with God had to be my first priority. I had to give my life over to Him and let him take control of the mess that my life had become. Pastor Ronnie counseled me on so many of those dark days. I know now that God sent him to me. Pastor Ronnie told me to read about Job. I did and gained strength. I was placed on the prayer list here at Callaway and I could feel the power of those prayers. People I did not know and who did not know me would call me just to say “we love you and we are praying for you”. Those prayers and the love that I felt coming from those people gave me strength through my darkest days. However, the situation continued to worsen. I became a recluse. I was depressed. I was without hope and my faith was beginning to wane. I wasn’t even crawling through the valley anymore. I was pancaked out. FLATTENED. I was forehead to forehead with the DEVIL and he was winning. It was all too much. During the darkest day of my time in the valley, when I thought that all hope was gone, when the hardship of it all, the worry that my family lived with day after day and the ridicule that my children had been forced to endure was just too much for me to bear and I had almost decided to throw in the towel. Almost. It was on that day that the phone rang and it was Brother Mike Phillips on the other end of the line calling to tell me that he and Sharon were praying for me and my family and that they loved us. It was in that moment, that one, single, glorious moment that I found the strength to get to my feet. I shook my fist at SATAN and screamed at him that I WAS A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD AND THAT HE WOULD NEVER EVER HAVE MY SOUL. Brother Mike may not even be aware that it was that one brief phone call, that one tiny word of encouragement that GOD knew I had desperately needed to hear in that one moment of what had been my darkest day and that his simple prayer spoken so powerfully changed my life. God sent Brother Mike to me that day just like he had sent countless others before. I gave my life, all of it, every tiny shred of all that I was, both good and bad to GOD at that very moment and a peace…you know that peace that passes all understanding….came to reside in my heart and soul. I knew that GOD was with me and regardless of my situation and regardless of my circumstances that everything would be okay. Things didn’t change for me overnight but, they did begin to change. I slowly began to make my way out of that valley, that pit of hopelessness and despair. I returned to the world of the living. Soon after that day I went back to work and just recently I have been named the Warden at my prison.
My testimony is simple. GOD changes lives, he changes circumstances, he answers prayers and he walks with you through whatever valley you find yourself in. When things seem to be impossible and you find yourself walking through that valley just shake your fist at the DEVIL and tell him that you belong to THE MOST HIGH, MOST MIRACULOUS, MOST CARING AND MOST AWESOME GOD. NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.
