Tumultuous. That’s the only way you could describe the last ten years of Jay Reed’s life. He’s gone from single to engaged to single to married to divorced. Throughout the up-and-down decade, God worked in Jay’s life and moved him from “part-time” Christian to a man fully engaged with Christ.
“I spent my 20’s chasing worldly things,” said Laurie Zeleny. “Climbing the corporate ladder. Defining my life by career success. At times, hanging out with my church friends on Sundays, then living apart from God Monday through Saturday. In 2001, I had the opportunity to move to London with the corporation I was working for. From the outside, it looked great. I worked in a grand, historic building in the heart of the city. But I’m not proud of many choices I made during this time in my life.”
In prison, I needed someone to tell me that God was real. Robert didn’t just say it, he showed me. – Harry McDonald
I lived much of my adult life acting like two different people: the person I had to be in my job as a pastor and the person I actually was. I was always taught to put my best foot forward and not talk about my struggles. But sometimes, what we’re taught isn’t what’s best for us. After years of living like two different men, it ended very badly. All I wanted was an escape.
Being Known (more…)
In high school, I was often teased for my appearance and being skinny. Born with a cranial facial syndrome called Treacher Collins, my lower jaw was pushed back, in an incorrect alignment and smaller than my upper jaw. I also have absent cheekbones and small nasal passages which affect my appearance. At the time, though, I never knew the medical reasons for the way I looked; I thought God made me this way to punish me for something I had done. With poor body image and low self-esteem, I thought friends only wanted something from me like help with homework. I felt I had to work or perform to get people to like me. I did have a few real friends, but I kept them at an arms length because I didn’t trust people. (more…)
“I think the foolishness of how I’d been living hit me when I was 18 years old at a college fraternity party,” said David Morrison. “The police showed up, and I was underage; so, I ran and hid in the backyard of a house nearby. Sitting there in the dark, having a cigarette with some guy I didn’t even like, I took a good look at myself and asked, ‘WHAT AM I DOING?’ I felt like such a loser.
“My definition of hell on earth is living with one foot in the world, and the other with Christ. I know, because I lived that way for so long.” – Allen Hankins.
Michael Jacobs had every reason not to believe that God is good. Growing up without a dad was tough. Michael’s mom Kathy, an immigrant from Vietnam, struggled to learn English, hold down a job and raise Michael and his four sisters on her own. With little money and few supportive friends, the odds were stacked against the family from the beginning.
(more…)
“When I walked in the door at Watermark I was carrying 43 years of baggage: a divorce, a broken engagement, and one devastating decision I thought could never be forgiven,” Russ Mamoth explained.
(more…)
When Denise Renken married in ’78, she thought it would last forever. But the relationship crumbled under financial stress and infidelity just four years later. Denise remarried in ’83, certain it would be different. But past hurts and her husband’s extramarital affairs led to divorce in 2000. The man Denise married in ’01 was radically different from previous marriages. He loved the Lord and eagerly invested in the health of their marriage. Which is astonishing knowing Denise’s husband, David, is the same man she divorced twice and married three times.
(more…)
