Growing up I had great parents and sibling and friends and family and teammates and so on and so forth. I have been so blessed to have a mother, Julie, and father, David, that are still together and seeking Christ with their lives. I thank God for giving them to me, and blessing me in this way even from the start as a youngster, when they forced me to do the right thing including even going to church. But that did not in anyway make me immune to the one equalizer over all mankind. Sin.
At the ripe age of middle school I was introduced to pornography. You know the story, a friend invited me over to the house when his parents were gone. He had his dad's porno mags out and we just started flipping the pages not really knowing or understanding the whirlpool of sin we were getting into. So I left curious, and wanting to go back again and again to experience this new thing I had found. But after a few very spread out times it wasn't enough. A small cancerous thought had been birthed in my mind, and it would continue to grow through out my high school years. Then there is the "rising action" part of the story, when I, the protagonist or hero, if you will, start fighting back and try to build momentum.
The truth though, is no great story is made great by doing the expected. Great stories are Gandalf the White peaking a mountain top with Rohan's entire calvary, right when the heroes are back into a corner, or when a warrior fighting for freedom in Scottland cries out with his last breath, "Freedom!", when a young farmer from Tatooine, after loosing all he has known, fights for the good in the very one whom brought pain and sorrow into his life. When the hero sacrifices everything, even his life to accomplish more then was dreamed, something that affects a single people group, the entirity of Middle Earth or even a galaxy far far away, that is what makes a great story. And yes my life, just like all of yours, is great and going to be a great story to share and pass on.
Back to rising action…
After high school I began to take action on the sin in my life. I opened up and shared with some friends and in small groups. I found encouragement, I wasn't struggling alone. We rallied together to fight for ourselves and each other. We were fighting a loosing battle. The enemy was encamping around us on all sides. Anytime we felt victorious or gained ground in one area it felt like the enemy had a sneak attack ready to be unleash.
It was an up and down time. Sin was still trying to hold me captive, when just at the right time, when it was to much to bear, something beautiful happened, something great.
Great stories also leave you hanging… part 1/2 🙂
