Proverbs 24:16 – "Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again;"
Growing up I had a 50/50 childhood. What I mean is that I saw that half of my childhood was good and half of my childhood was bad. When it came to the bad I developed many masks to hide my pain, mainly behind the false mask of happiness. Now I'm still finding tiny shreds of that mask because I sometimes subconsciously hide my pain with happiness. It made me one heck of liar, a seemingly "joyful" person, but I was really in more pain than I could ever bear (correct spelling?). Between the ages of 12-15, satan got a foothold over my family's lives and tore each of us into separate directions. Through those terrible circumstances I made the decision to move out so I can have a healthy last few years of high school. I moved in with one family but more circumstances arose where I needed to move out. I moved in with another family which I hated to move out of but I felt God pushing me to move in with my blood relatives. I moved in with my relatives but more things happened which made me move again. I began to think, "God, is there anywhere I can just stay permanently? I'm begging you!"
Then I finally moved in with a house of two families. One was Rob and Jenny Willoughby who is a married couple (and later had two children!) and a youth pastor in the area. The other was Michelle and her son Gage (whom I mentioned in a previous post). Rob and Jenny made this home a community full of love and fellowship. I didn't really realize just how close everyone was until after I moved in. Of course by this I meant that they supported each other when they are hurting, failing, or just in need of love. I wasn't ready to let these people dive headfirst into the great mystery and darkness that resided in me. I kept my usual mask of happiness on so they would see no reason to try and learn about my pain and see the disgust that I saw in myself. But because God is so good and He wants healing over my life so much, they found out about my pornographic habits. Not just pornographic habits but my homosexual habits that I tried to deal with on my own. Because I was so ashamed by how awful it seemed I never wanted anyone to know about it except for me and God. Rob being the man of God that he is confronted me about it with another of my mentors in my life. I was so scared and so ashamed and so so so very embarrassed that night. Goodness who would want someone to find out about that?!
But these people, that I didn't want to ever enter my life completely, reached out to me and loved me. They told me we all make mistakes. I wasn't alone in this walk of life. They were there to help me heal and learn from my mistakes. Most of all they weren't disappointed in me. Which is more of a relief than anything! During my final year of high school and the transition into college I fell several more times. But I always got up. God is residing in these people and they picked me up every time. Whenever they picked me up I felt such love and such forgiveness before I even asked for it. That 'happiness' is gone now and is replaced by the complete and overwhelming joy of the Lord! What was my whole point of telling you this story? To show you that you can receive love from anything and anyone if you tear down those walls that you keep so heavily fortified. I'm still tearing those traps down. But everyday I take another brick down is another day that I feel closer to God.
This life has been such a ride ever since I began my relationship with Jesus! Please continue to keep me in your prayers as the months are thinning on my time here in the United States. Specific prayer request! I'm beginning the process of setting up a fundraising dinner that's set for March 14 at 6:00 PM at Living Hope Christian Center in Madras. Please pray for the right decisions to be made in this as well as what it is that God would like me to share that night.
If you would like to donate to my World Race account click the Support Me! link in the upper left hand corner of this page. If you would rather send the money directly to me, you can send checks or cash to:
Hunter Young
215 SE E Street
Madras, OR 97741
Please make checks out to Hunter Young. I am so excited for partnering with you on this missions trip! I love you all and let me know if you want to talk, laugh, or need prayer!
