My Testimony

Por: A New Me | |

I am a 31yr old husband and father of, get this, 5 and one on the way, and I am on fire for the Lord. The simple fact is I wasn’t always this way and for the majority of my life I made bad choices, hung out with the wrong crowd, and basically did everything and anything that pleased my flesh. I can confidently say, with the exception of the gender difference, I used to be you and I pray that my life experience will help you make choices that will positively influence your life.

Stereotypically, most people expect that the “bad kids,” the partiers and druggies, came from bad family life, but that is not my case at all. I was born into a Puerto Rican family, my mother and father are still married, and I have two brothers. Most of my childhood was good–we had nice homes, went on family vacations, and I really never did without. When I was 14, my family moved from New Jersey down to South Florida, and this is when I began to take a turn for the worse. It started with friends that introduced me to marijuana and LSD; by the time I was 15, I smoked pot every day and tripped on acid pretty much every weekend. Because of my party habits, I quickly got involved with selling drugs and before I knew it, I was entering high school addicted to the fast life. Without sounding cliché, I felt I had it good, fast girls and fast money; boy was I ever wrong. All through high school I had many girlfriends, and it’s no surprise that by my junior year of high school I had my first child, and shortly into my senior year I had my second. I was big time into the hip-hop scene and spent the majority of my time in clubs and at parties; I hate to admit it but I was definitely considered “a player” and treated most of my girlfriends as objects rather than people. It was also no surprise that the majority of my friends were in gangs and little clicks. The reality is, of my 5 better “friends” from high school, 2 have passed away from drug overdoses, 2 have been in prison for the majority of the last 10 years, and only one that I know of straightened up his life.

Fast forward a few years and by 2004 I had 4 children, was addicted to drugs and alcohol, and just looked for every possible way to fill the void that was in my life. It wasn’t until recently that I realized, even when I denied God’s existence, He protected me and made sure I was safe. I thank the Lord every day that He pulled me out of that lifestyle. In December of 2007, I was badly addicted to oxycontin and other painkillers and before I realized it if I wasn’t high I was “dope sick”–now that is the worst feeling in the world. My brother and sister-in-law (Trophy of Grace) basically did an intervention to me and it was then that I decided to try and change.

December 13th, 2007 I was lying on a detox bed, basically dying, and I prayed. I asked if there was a God in Heaven and if He could deliver me from my addiction, then I would dedicate my life to His Word, well whallah! Be careful what you pray for with a sincere heart because it will happen. The Bible says when we accept Jesus in our life we are transformed, new creations (hence my name) but I never realized it would be this radical. I am proud to proclaim and I am not ashamed, I am a JESUS FREAK… HOLLER!!! And I know with every bone in my body that if God could love me enough to change me this way, He can do the same for anyone of you. Today I have been saved for almost 2 years, I have a loving wife and I am proud to say we have 2 beautiful girls together. My two sons that I had in high school will be moving in with us this summer full-time and my wife is pregnant. Glory to God for all His faithfulness! I pray that through this ministry, and with the counsel of God-loving people who have gone through many of the situations that you have gone through and will go through, that you won’t make the same stupid mistakes many of us did. What I thought were great years in my life and fun times, turned out to be almost 14 years that were filled with heartache, addiction and loss. However, God has taken what the enemy intended for destruction and turned it into glory. My mess of a life is now my message of Life, abundant Life through Christ Jesus!