Hey everybody, I'm Van. I would like thank you for viewing my page and for your support.
I'm now 23 and still a babe in Christ. I've been in church almost 2 years now ( wow that came fast ) and what a couple of years it's been. To look back at who I was before to who I am now just blows my mind. I can't wait to see who God turns me into in the many years to come. I've always been a "people person" and I've always had a servants heart. But now always in the purpose God created me for. I'm a huge sports fan and love the theatre. I play music and write poetry.
Before i came to know the lord I was living a life of sex, drugs, and alcohol. For the longest time I had forgot how to even have fun with out them. When I fist was saved it was hard for me to relearn how to enjoy life with out them. So I spent a lot of time at home praying that this wouldn't be a struggle in my life. It wasn't easy. I was even afraid to hang out with people in fear of going back. But then on night while praying in my room I felt god speak to my spirit say do not be afraid, for where you go I AM with you. This brought such a comfort to me that I started going out and making new friends. Through them I learned that the sex, drugs, and alcohol had been a crutch that had just replaced God in my life.
I was raised in church and i was always around God in my childhood, but i was never in Christ. I always believed that being in church was being in Christ. When i turned 18 I left home and church behind. I spent years feeling unloved and unwanted. Nothing made me whole and nothing made me truly happy. I tried everything the world had to offer. And i found that the world wasn't enough. Something was missing in my life. Someone was missing in my life, I remember it hitting me one day, I wanted my life to be good. I didn't want it to look good, I wanted to be good. In and out. So for a year I tried on my own to clean my life up. I found this to be a harder task then i planed for.
In march of 2010 I moved back to my home town. I needed a fresh start. But the struggle was still there. I couldn't run away from what I had turned my life into. After a couple months I ran into an old friend of mine, we had lunch together and he invited to church. I had no desire to go at all. But I've never been able to say no. ( still an issue God is helping me with.) So I go with him. I remember my eyes filling with tears and arguing with God that I wanted no part of him or the church. Then it happened, It was like God sucker punched me. I couldn't see anything around me and everything sounded like it was in a far away room. When I finally came back to my senses i was on the other side of the baptismal pool completely soaked.
The next night I go back. The church had a guest speaker ( Todd White ) for a week. See I wasn't really convinced that it was God the night before. I tried to tell my self that it was just my emotions getting the better of me. I show up Almost two hours before service, praying that if that was God that he would speak to me and let me know he was real. Over Three thousand people showed up that night. As the hours went bye i kept praying that God would prove himself to me. I watched the clock turn to 9 still no God. 10 came and went no God. Some friends invited me to go out to eat but I said I wasn't leaving until God Proved he was real or nobody was left. once again i look at the time. it was after 11. I started loosing hope. At midnight there was only one other person there so i decided God didn't exist and i was leaving. As i got to the door I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to see Todd White crying. He told me that he was praying with that person God told him to stop and run to the doors. When he got there he would see whom he was supposed pray with. He continued to tell me that he had stopped in the middle of praying and he ran. So as we are praying he looks up at me and says That when was ready give up and ready to live for nothing that God showed up to prove he loved me. With that he gave me a gift that really proved to me that THERE IS A GOD and he does LOVE me.
So now I go to share that love. My goal in life is to help others to find peace in Christ. And love in there hearts.
