This is why I believe. I had no reason to live. I lived seven years in drug addiction. I had been robbed by my friends when I was 15. The mastermind behind it was 14. I have been used by friends, or more like acquaintances, for various reasons, so I really had no one to trust or even talk to. I smoked pot everyday since I was about 14. I started drinking to fit in, and little did I know, I was killing myself and destroying my life. I started doing acid (LSD) when I was 16 and went on a binge for 5 months, taking it every other day along with weed and drinking. When I was 18 I started taking mushrooms on top of the other drugs. I later got an MIP (minor in possession). I actually made it through high school, though. Also, when I was 18 I lost a friend who died from falling 3 stories and broke his neck while intoxicated. The day after my 19th birthday I got stoned and went shoplifting and got busted. I was put on probation for a year. A couple of months after I got busted, in November, my girlfriend and I of 2 years broke up. The week after that, a day and half before Thanksgiving, I came home to a house without power. I lit a candle and played guitar, then I decided after a few minutes that I wanted to take a nap. It was around 10:00PM. The next thing I knew The Lord was talking to me with his audible voice telling me to get up and get out of the house. When I came to terms that God was speaking to me I got up and my whole room was lit up. I ran to the door that led to the outside, but it was locked. I turned to look behind me and there was a wall of fire coming toward me. I froze in shock and could not move any part of me, especially my hands. The only way I could have gotten out of that house was the Lord taking my hands and unlocking the door. Man, after that night I saw no reason to live. Everything was lost, including memories from my life in that house. It seemed like almost all of me died in the house. Needless to say, my drug usage increased every night to try to dull pain, which never helped. I wound up crying myself to sleep every night for at least a month. I did all this even after I knew God spoke to me. I was lost and had no way out. Later I got a probation violation. Five months of taking dirty drug tests will do that to you. I saw a reason to maybe stop smoking pot; I would just drink. That was stupid. I wound up hitting a fire hydrant one night because all three of us in the car passed out at the same exact time. I went to jail that night and gained 2 more years of probation, and my friend O.D.(overdosed) in my car, puking his actual guts out. I was wondering where was God in all of this. I didn't know why he wasn't helping me. But he really was. He got me in the courts and put me in NA (Narcotics Anonymous). He was reaching out for me the whole time and I ignored it. I found I had to give my life, every part of me, to the Lord. Now I live for the Lord and I will never turn back to the hell on earth again. I have freedom from the bondages of sin through the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ Jesus. In my years of chasing, I have never failed to see a lightning bolt and think of how Christ pierced the darkness in my life. he has given me greater visions to add on to my storm chasing. Such as spotting for public safety. and caring for those who may have lost there home due to natural occurrence. In any possible way I want to try and help young kids understand that we all go through our rough times, and we need to stand together as a community to get things accomplished and support one another.
God Bless you and thank you for reading this testimony.