My Salvation Testimony

In the spring of 2004, I was a happy 18 year old, enjoying life, I had more friends than I could count and more fun than I could ever imagine. I went to bed on a Saturday night with hunger pangs, but decided I didn't want to eat anything, so I went to sleep. The next morning, I woke up with stomach cramps, and felt miserable. Monday I made a doctors appointment, and had some tests ran, and I was diagnosed as having a case of food poisoning, given a prescription and sent on my way. I felt better for a day or so then regresses. After suffering for a few days, I made another appointment, and I was hospitalized due to severe dehydration. After more tests, I was told I had an ulcer, released then given a prescription. As the time went on, I began to lose a lot of weight, over 25 lbs. in less than 2 weeks and I was starting to see my problem was serious. I had some scopes done on my insides, and the doctor found my large intestine was full of ulcers and tissue inflammation, a disease known as Crohn’s disease. My organs were shutting down, I couldn’t eat without throwing it back up, and I thought I was going to die. I was at my worst, within hours of death on a Thursday, I begged my parents to take me to the doctor and they finally gave in. The doctor saw me, and decided I would be best served going to a larger hospital and arranged to have me hospitalized at Atchison, then transported to KU Med in Kansas City. I was transported to KU Med, where I was immediately put in intense treatment, to try to heal my insides, and clean myself out for more scopes. After 3 or 4 days without eating, I was discouraged and hopeless, but I know I needed to be cleaned out for the scopes. I remember praying the night before the scopes, and the next day, I came back completely clean. The ulcers had healed and I was sent home a couple days later. Being a rebellious teenager who didn't learn my lesson, I spent a lot of days with a friend and his girlfriend in Lawrence, Kansas, drinking and wrecking my body. After a few weeks I got homesick, and started coming back around my house, and I was on the internet late one night in a Yahoo chatroom, when a girl sent me an IM. Her name was Jessica, and she was a Christian from California, and after a few conversations I started developing a curiosity about Christianity. About that time, the Passion of the Christ came out on video, so my family rented it, and I watched it, and God began to wreck me. Watching the films portrayal of the suffering of Jesus convicted me, and opened my mind to a lot of questions. I called Jessica's mom and began asking a ton of questions, and she gave me reading assignments from the Bible, and I tried to understand, but things went over my head That Christmas, her family bought me my first Bible and I began to read a few parts of it, but wasn’t really interested. I decided I needed to go to church, called a Pastor, asked a few questions, then decided to go the following Sunday, January 16th. I wasn’t sure what to expect that Sunday, so I had my sister go with me. There was a Missionary speaker there that Sunday, who preached the gospel and the message began tearing at my soul. I had no clue I needed forgiveness of sins, I knew I was a sinner, but I didn't know I needed a savior. During the invitation I decided I wanted assurance that I would be going to heaven if I died, so I accepted Jesus as my personal savior. I began reading the Bible I was given and began attending that church regularly, being baptized on March 27, 2005 on Easter Sunday and became a member at the same time. I was given the chance to work there in April of that year, and I have been there ever since, the Lord has been good to me through my time as his child. I pray that he would keep me well, and would bless my work for him.