|
|
Hi, I’m Mike. I grew up in an environment that stressed education. My life was regimented to such a degree that as soon as I graduated college I moved 3,000 miles from home. So many people and institutions told me that I could not survive without them that I revolted with a degree of intensity that not many people have ever experienced. Everyone was telling me how I should act, think, feel and what opinion was the accepted one. I began to live life in the fast lane.
The only reaction I could think of was to remove myself from what was near, dear and known to the unknown 3,000 miles away. So I moved to California with my band to “make it big”. Everyone was loyal and true till my money ran out and I was stuck in a foreign land. I thought I was hot stuff until our band went to Capitol records and found thousands of records in the storage room of recorded groups that were much more polished than we ever were.
In Los Angeles, I became aware that I was poor and broke. The classes are clearly divided into the “haves” and “have-nots” (ultra rich and ultra poor). Then there’s the middle class.
I finally joined bands out there and was moving toward success in the music industry but I never felt satisfied or at peace with myself. In my mind was a raging war going on that never left me with the peace that Jesus affords us. My mind was a tangled mess with all my wires intact but mixed up. My opinions and thought processes were not necessarily truth and in accord with God.
One night I was performing with my band and I felt a presence that warmed my heart, made my breathing slow down and opened my eyes to an awareness that is larger than all of us and life itself. For the first time I felt at peace and that everything is ok. I wanted to know more about this presence but did not know where to go to approach it. I tried reading about Buddhism, Hinduism, Oriental Philosophies, and The Bethel Tabernacle where they speak in tongues, etc. Someone in the band gave me a picture of Jesus kneeling in the garden of Gethsemane and I began to talk to it. Answers began coming to me about questions pertaining to my life at the time.
My girlfriend and I broke up and I was miserable, at a low point in my life. It was at this point that I met a minister and his wife that were staying with us at our apartment, not through my choice. They asked me if I had ever been saved and I promptly told them no. I tried as hard as I could to ignore their pitch but was convicted. They asked me to give myself to Jesus and I did. The next thing was that I was turned inside out. This was not the end but the beginning of a lonely search for where I could most effectively serve Jesus.
A million of the things I thought were so were not so at all. I had to re-learn many of the basic things I believed in all my life. Though I was born with common sense and used it when my friends jumped off bridges; I told them I had better things to do. Jesus untangled the wires in my head and thinking began to be more orderly and less confused. This to me is worth more that all the money in the world. Jesus began answering questions I had for years.
My next problem was where were other believers I could fellowship with? New Mexico has the strongest presence of God and his Spirit everywhere that I ever felt anywhere I’ve been. I did find other believers but peace for me was along way off. Being saved was merely the beginning. A light was turned on revealing a physical and spiritual mess beyond comprehension. So the work just began after being saved. Many experiences left me unbearably miserable. Loneliness was a way of life. I wanted a mate but God insisted that I put Him first in all things.
It took about seven years to wind up in the Bible belt where I made home. I was offered a Home Depot store management job if I would be willing to move at their whim. I refused. I said that I wanted to have roots here and would become successful here or nowhere else.
A family was what I wanted and the Lord provided one for me that enabled a sinner like me to experience righteousness to even a miniscule extent. The next thing Jesus did for me was to let me experience periods of happiness. They came from performing responsibilities. Of all things! Happiness was something that eluded me even with the freedom of going where I wanted when I wanted. These are some of the things that I consider pearls of life.
This is the greatest place that I have ever been that has an environment of God fearing people. This is the best place I have ever seen for raising a family. Nowhere in the US is better for me and my family than here in Georgia. |
|
