I grew up in a very abusive situation where my step mother was putting it nicely very mean to me. I grew up resenting any and all authority and rebelled at each chance I got. My parents divorced when I was 13, but by now the damage had been done as far as I was concerned! Around age 15 I began using alcohol to numb the pains of life, often drinking up to a case of beer or a fifth or two of vodka each and every day, often stealing it. The group of guys a ran with were a rough crowd, so I became as rough as I could just to fit it. Well, drinking led to fighting, and even more rebelliousness then I started having such a lack of respect for anyone or anything, that I graduated to stealing and doing breakins.

After breaking and entering a gas station and grocery store (age 16) I got caught with the evidence! I would serve 1 year in the state reformatory at Eldora. This DID take the desire to steal and commit crimes out of my system, but once released from there I had learned or aquired a new skill......DRUGS! I especially took to LSD ,mescaline, white crosses, pot and hash, but I really attacked the LSD with a vengence! I still had that hatered for authority. In 1974 I met Jill who is now my wife she was 15 and I was 22. (yes, her parents were LESS than delighted with me!!!!) Of course I assisted her in her path with drugs, although I did insist that she stop when we found out she was pregnant!!!! In about 1981 Jill found Christ, started going to church was really on fire for Jesus and I was FUMING! She would try to witness to me and I'd go ape, yelling and screaming and becoming increasingly angrier by the minute. To be honest I was JEALOUS! Jill had found someone that filled her life with joy and peace and it wasn't me, so I HATED even the mention of the name Jesus! Now, pair this with the fact that her mother was a born-agin christian and I was getting it from both sides!

I ORDERED Jill NOT to speak of Jesus in my house and I certainly was NOT going to any ****ed church! From that point she never mentioned HIM again, little did I know she was secretly praying up a storm, a storm in MY SOUL! I could not sleep one Sunday morning very early, and got up and turned on the T.V. and some guy named Jimmy Swaggert was on. I wanted to change the channels but something inside of me compelled me to watch. When he led the sinners prayer near the end of the show, I KNEW GOD was talking to me thru his words! I repeated the prayer too.  I felt peace, joy and freedom at last! I sat there remembering that Jill had told me how at church the brought out the guitars to sing praise, I had been to church as a kid and remembered the old hymns with the organ and thought that was dull, but being a guitar player myself, my curiousity was peaked.

I am sitting in the chair and I hear this still small voice in my soirit say....."get dressed, get the family dressed and come to church!" Thats exactly waht I did , ran all over the house waking everyone up and proclaiming "lets go to church" I can tell you my wife was SURPRISED!!!!!!!! And that's putting it mildly!  We DID go and I loved every second of it, in fact I was in my Fathers house, I KNEW He was there in the midst and I didn't want to go home after the services!  We began having a fellowship and bible study meeting in our home every week and thanks be to God, we got to witness many of our friends accepting Christ.

I could go on and on with lots of testimony but I'll end saying this....it hasn't always been easy and there have been some major trials and obstacles, and periods where back slidding a bit has been present, yet Jesus is Lord of my life, He is in charge and "God says it, I believe it, that settles it!!!!!!!"

Dave