I grew up in an abusive family and come from a long line of alcoholics and addicts. There was a lot of physical and psychological abuse growing up (and I'm not counting the spankings I got for misbehaving). I was made to feel worthless and useless from the repeated names I was called by my parents, despite having a clean school record and excellent grades. We were not a church-going family, and we had no bible in the house. I had come to the conclusion that God couldn't exist since I was in such an abusive situation, and what loving God would do that to somebody?
I joined the military after high school to run away from home. I had the grades for college and was accepted but was not eligible for scholarships due to lack of extracurricular activities (which my parents forbid me to participate in). While my home life, particularly as a teen, was bad, my young adult life was not much better. I followed in my dad's footsteps and took up drinking, and I made a lot of bad choices that made my life anything but happy. This had fueled my belief that God didn't exist. I met my wife and we got married over my parents' objections (they didn't like her because she was of Italian descent). My family actually disowned me over marrying her and didn't accept my children as their grandchildren. This made me more bitter, but I had at least quit drinking after I met my wife.
Long story short (I had a long story when I started this, but this forum doesn't accept posts over 1000 characters LOL), I finally tried out church at my wife's repeated pleadings, and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on March 31, 2005.
I still bear the scars from my childhood, but I don't attribute my childhood to it being a result of a lack of God's existence. I realized that God put me in that situation to bring my heart to Him, and that He was with me the whole time, even as I rejected Him in my younger days. For that, I am eternally grateful.
Sorry for the short story, but I'm trying to keep this under 1000 characters.
I joined the military after high school to run away from home. I had the grades for college and was accepted but was not eligible for scholarships due to lack of extracurricular activities (which my parents forbid me to participate in). While my home life, particularly as a teen, was bad, my young adult life was not much better. I followed in my dad's footsteps and took up drinking, and I made a lot of bad choices that made my life anything but happy. This had fueled my belief that God didn't exist. I met my wife and we got married over my parents' objections (they didn't like her because she was of Italian descent). My family actually disowned me over marrying her and didn't accept my children as their grandchildren. This made me more bitter, but I had at least quit drinking after I met my wife.
Long story short (I had a long story when I started this, but this forum doesn't accept posts over 1000 characters LOL), I finally tried out church at my wife's repeated pleadings, and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior on March 31, 2005.
I still bear the scars from my childhood, but I don't attribute my childhood to it being a result of a lack of God's existence. I realized that God put me in that situation to bring my heart to Him, and that He was with me the whole time, even as I rejected Him in my younger days. For that, I am eternally grateful.
Sorry for the short story, but I'm trying to keep this under 1000 characters.