I grew up in a Christian church so I had some knowledge of Jesus but I didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. As I got older I’d say to myself, “One day I’ll eventually surrender my life to Christ…but just not now”. Because of this mindset, I was ignorant of my sins and as a result, my family suffered. I wasn’t an intentional father to my children. I left my wife alone to deal with her struggles and witheld love and words of affirmation when she needed me the most. Our marriage looked okay on the outside but we were struggling on the inside. By 2021 we had so many hurts in our marriage of 9 years, we were on the verge of calling it quits.
At this time, my wife started searching for God and began reading the bible and listening to worship music. I was suffering on the inside from recent hurt and betrayal and didn’t want anything to do with God. But at the same time, I didn’t want to get in the way of her journey. I started to notice something in her change and that really got my attention. The worship songs grew on me and I started singing along. Then soon enough, I found interest in God again. She started searching for a church to attend and by Easter, we came to City Central. I felt God speak to me in that service and I knew that day, I needed to make a decision. It was a weak yes, but it was still a yes.
My wife and I said yes to every opportunity to get closer to God and our new church community. He began to work on me by putting new people in my life to disciple and help guide me. My whole outlook on life changed and I no longer wanted to do those things I had once turned to. I started to put Jesus on the throne of my heart and let Him take the reigns. As I was transformed so was my marriage and my relationship with my children. The Lord continues to help my wife and I break generational patterns to leave a legacy for our children and generations to come. We’re a work in progress but when I fail, I go to Him for forgiveness because I know He is there to bring me back in alignment with His will.