Last week I had the opportunity to visit my old home… Westfield, Indiana.

As I drove around that small town I reflected on what God has done in my life and was renewed with optimism for every person! The transformation in my life is incredible!

I moved out of my parent’s home when I was seventeen and moved into a series of different residences with different dudes. The last place I lived was in a trailer park in Eagletown, Indiana. These days of my life were marked by guilt, depression, disappointment, rage, and hopelessness. I smoked a ton of pot, drank what I could afford and tried many other alternatives to dim the pain and quiet the echoes of loneliness in my heart. None of it worked.

And then I found Jesus. Since then my life has taken a turn for the better. Sure, I still wrestle with attitudes, etc. that aren’t exactly Christ-like, but I like to say, “I’m not what I’m gonna be, but I’m a whole lot better than I used to be!” Thank you Jesus!

Here’s some pics for the journal:

The trailer park I lived in…

The lot and the porch where I used to live (our trailer was crap so they probably burned it as soon as we moved out!)

The truckstop I used to wash dishes at (My license had been suspended so I had to drive to work illegally every day! I looked for the shortest drive possible… this was it.)

I was embarrassed by my life. I lived in a crappy trailer with holes in the floor and no heat other than what we got from a single kerosene heater! I worked at a truckstop scrubbing pans for $6 an hour and was regularly humiliated when my friends would stop in to shoot pool and see me scrubbing pans and mopping floors. I was ashamed of how I talked, the habits that controlled my life, and the depths to which I had sunk.

Today I am a new man because of Jesus Christ. Today I am ridiculously optimistic about people. I believe that Jesus can transform anyone and that He wants to lead us into a “rich and satisfying life” (John 10:10)… and that’s why I am starting a new church, Walls Down Church. I’m not the first to be changed by His love, and I won’t be the last!