I know for me before my dad passed away I had no clue as to what to do in life. I always believed in God but was to selfish to actually accept him and put him first. When I would go out drinking I would always have a good time and I have to admit the last thought on my mind was God. 2002 was the year I really noticed a change start happening in my life. At this point I was barely over 22 years of age and had already been to jail twice from drinking. The good thing was I never drove lol. I was always caught outside the bar raisin kane. On July 4 of 2002 I met my wife. It was on a beach on the Isle of Palms in South Carolina. A year and 2 days later we had our first kid. From that point on I stopped drinking and wanted better. So I started my own business but later found out that I was missing something in my life. See I had to Idea what life was about. My dad moved from here in 2001 and moved to Georgia. Mostly because of me. I was selfish, no good waste of nothing but lies and cheating. I was close to being an alcoholic but I didn't need the alcohol to live. I chose to do it because I felt cooler and I was hanging out with different girls and every weekend was a party. My dad got sick and tired of me and in one day he went from being my best friend to a dad and made me grow up. Little did I know I would find myself homeless. So it took me from April of 01 until July of 02 to straighten my life out. So I thought.
As I said before I had no idea what life was about and 8 years later I'm still trying to work on me. I went from 2001 until about may of 2003 without saying one word to my dad. My dad left South Carolina and was a racist and the most non Christian man I have ever met. In 2003 all I ever remembered was the way dad was. My first words to him was why in the G.D Heck is he calling me. I talked to him a few minutes and this man seemed different. He seemed more happy and didn't use any curse words when he spoke. I was wowed so much that I forgot about him leaving and leaving me homeless. Every other day for the next couple months my would always call me and only wanted to talk about the Bible and how I needed to find a church. My son was born in July and my dad came down to visit me in August. Little did I know that would be the last time I ever saw my dad alive. He held my son and to me that meant a lot. Still having dinner at Ruby Tuesdays all my dad wanted to do was talk about God and the Bible. He felt like it was the most important thing for me to do was to accept God in my life. To be honest at that point in life all I cared about was money. My business was starting to boom and I made excuse after excuse not to visit my dad. My dad lived in Albany Georgia which was 6 hours away from where I lived. I drove all the way to Orlando Florida and went to Sea World and didn't go see him like I planned. I always thought that he would be here and I questioned Gods power in my own mind. Like I said before I never got to see the man again.
In July 23rd 2008 my life would change forever. I was on the way to bid a job when I got a phone call from my sister saying daddy was dieing and to get there now. I got to Albany Georgia at 12:00 a.m exactly and seen my dad for the first time. I took my son and daughter in there and that was the first time the really seen their grand daddy. I always talked to my dad on the phone but I never actually paid attention to what he was saying. So I thought anyway. I did start to read the Bible but I was very unsuccessful at doing so Until July. Earlier that month is when I truly started to understand what he was saying. My dad that is. It all started coming together. I could sit and read and wanted to learn more. I was thirsty for the Bible. As I walked in to the lobby after seeing my dad I was amazed at how many people were there to see him before he died. My dad was in a coma and was on life support but at 12:00 in the morning the lobby had no room for other families. There were black people there for my dad which was weired. My dad in 2001 was a huge racist. He even marched for the Confederate flag when they wanted to take it down from the state capital. There was people from all ethnics there to see my dad pass. At that moment a calm feeling came over me. I wasn't crying or feeling bad for what happened but I felt good. People started coming to me and telling me what kind of an inspiration my dad was. I was truly amazed. I knew at that point I wanted to know more about God and Jesus and everything. I wanted to know all I could. My dad passed at 2:00 p.m on July 24 and had his service on July 26th. The service was at his church
www.lcci.us in Albany Georgia. It was amazing. There were tons of people still coming up to me and offered hugs and again saying what kind of inspiration my dad was. I thought real hard about what to say because I knew people expected me to say something about him. So at that moment on July 26th 2008 I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins. I asked the preacher to help me with the sinners prayer and at that moment everyone in the churched prayed it with me.
I thought because I was saved that my life would go by much smoother but it didn't. In order for me to truly get a grip on my life and put God first I had to delete what kept me from my family in the first place. My business and money. I sold my business for a little of nothing and starting learning me all over again. I wanted to know who I was and what I was about. I didn't know if I would like me but I soon found out that this person I found was who I really was. I didn't change from the outside, I changed from the inside. I started to love me. I started to love my family more and more each day. I started to put God first. On August 13th at 11:30 a.m I got baptized. It was the greatest moment in my life. For a split second I felt that my dad was proud of me. Not my earthly dad either. I felt God was happy. I felt as if Jesus was celebrating. I was a new Person. I started a new Business. Born Again Handyman Services. I am living a different life now than I was in May of 2008. I am not trying to be someone I'm not anymore. I finally am being who I am. To most of you on here I owe a lot of gratitude to you for your help along the way. Please continue to be there and help me stay on the right path. Thanks so much, God Bless, I love you and Happy New Year.
12-31-2009, 06:29 PM
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