ERIC'S TESTIMONY
Ours was not the easiest family to grow up in. But being much younger, I missed out on the on-going battle between my oldest brothers (Stephen and David) and our Dad. By the time I was born, my parents had all but given up on love and marriage, and they were divorced when I was less than a year old. Mom tried her best and I think she did a good job, or at least as good as any mother could do with the three remaining growing boys she was left with. I always remember her as sort of sad. Even when something should have made her happy, she never quite reached that level of being happy. I always suspected she was missing my Dad, but she would never own up to that. The time that had passed had left her bitter over her marriage, and that bitterness turned to an inner unhappiness.
Growing up as the youngest in a rather large family of five sons gave me the opportunity to "learn from my brothers mistakes". I remember many nights when my mother would cry because she had no idea in the world where her two oldest sons might be, or even if they were dead or alive, since both were into drugs and alcohol. I watched as she frantically paced back and forth in front of the living room window, looking out every time a car passed, because my other two brothers were out partying and she had heard sirens coming from a distance.
And so I decided very early on that I would be the one who would never hurt my mother. Who would never hurt my Dad by arguing with him when I visited his home, would never call him the names that I had heard the other boys call him. All I ever wanted to do was to get along with both my parents, and maybe in the process, try to hold on to some relationship with my brothers.
Because of this, everyone always called me "the angel child". Passive by nature, I don't like confrontations of any kind. Backed in a corner, I'll lay down and give up before I'll argue or quarrel with anyone. I kept in touch with my brother Stephen as much as I could, considering he had lived in Hawaii since I was two years old . But I called him, and he always called me on holidays and birthdays. David, on the other hand, was a renegade. When he left home, he left home behind him. He never called, never wrote a letter. If we heard from David, it was because he needed something.
I'm the same age as my brother David's son, Jason. And it was through Jason that our entire family situation changed recently. When Jason and his wife Wendi became Christians, his heart was moved to track his father down and share the simple steps to Salvation with him. To Jason's complete surprise, I'm sure, David was ready to accept the Lord into his life. It was almost as if he had been waiting for someone to ask him, and his heart was open to receive it. When David shared it with Stephen, so hooked on drugs for so many years, Stephen stopped using heroin instantly, thinking he wouldn't use it while David was in his home out of respect to him. But God had something in store for Stephen. Within a few days, he was saved, too, and he's not returned to the needle in about seven weeks now. In fact, he's in a major drug rehab program and dealing with the health problems that resulted from years of abusing his body.
Two of my brothers were saved now. And when I heard about it and saw the difference that Jesus Christ had made in their lives, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world that I should do the same. I had been called "the angel child", but I was no angel. No one is. I had never in my life gotten involved in the areas of sin that my brothers had, but I was a sinner the same as everyone who's ever been born. And so I was saved in the home my oldest two brothers share, and I wish I could describe the feeling that came as the tears poured out of me. I don't think I've ever cried so hard in my life, but it was the type of crying that leaves you feeling really good inside, as if releasing poison from an infected wound. The scars are still there to remind me, but all the pain has been taken away.
A revival, a renewing from the Holy Spirit, has swept through my family. Stephen, David, myself, my Dad, and now my Mom. Only Kris and Kyle remain, and we are bonded together in prayer for them every day. They are the most friendly and out-going members of my family, but as I told Pastor Steve, shallow happiness is no better than misery. And I truly believe that. For so many years, I found that sort of happiness came too easily, and was never long-lasting. True happiness is something you might have to work a little to find; but once found, it is eternal.
I will graduate from the University this spring, and then I am going to graduate school to work on my Masters Degree. I want to be a high school Math teacher eventually, unless the Lord has other plans for me. Because I've learned very recently, that my plans are so unimportant in the overall scheme of things. The things I have planned out for my life might all look great in the planning stages, but if Jesus Christ isn't in it, I want no part of it. I love the Lord with all my soul, body, mind and strength. I want my life to be whatever He would have it to be.
