I grew up on Long Island, New York, in a potato-farming community and small town called Mattituck. It is much like Tyrone, GA, even to this day. Only 2,000 people live there. My family (4 boys, 1 girl) was Roman Catholic, and we all attended private Catholic grammar school and public high school. I was the only one to end up graduating from a Catholic university (Fordham).

My parents were hard-working, affectionate, moral people, but they were not believers in the gospel of God’s grace. They worked hard to be “good people” in the hope that things would turn out well in the end for them, but it was sports, relationships, fun, and music that brought me temporary peace. I spent long hours as a child listening to my big sister’s albums. I played and sang to all kinds of music to make myself feel better and to cope with the anxieties of living in a suffering and angry world. At other times, I’d head to the basketball court to gain satisfaction from competing in sports and driving up my endorphins for hours.

I lived on shaky ground. Spurgeon said, “Live entirely upon Christ; living by feelings is a deadly form of life.” As I entered my high school years, things became more difficult. I was getting closer to full-blown adult responsibility which caused anxiety. Would I go to college? What would I study? Would I like my career? Would someone ever marry me? In addition to those heavy questions, I had to deal with the physical and relationship challenges of being a teenager and navigating interactions with the opposite sex. So much nervous fear!

I studied psychology at Fordham University. My love for deep conversation with others was something built into me by God, but I was still a stranger to Christ. The things that my flesh wanted to pursue – “freedom” (illusory), independence, the ability to live the way I wanted—was too much to resist. So, I stopped attending catholic mass in the first year of college. The priests gave no assurance of eternal life. I was well aware of the commandments but had no power to keep them and no answer for the guilt of violating them. So, I drifted away from “the faith.” I knew that the pagan religions were bankrupt of credibility, eternal wisdom, and the hope of salvation and thought that there was nowhere else to turn except pleasure (Ecclesiastes 2:1- 15). So, wine, women, song, and “whatever pleased me” became my pursuit. My conclusion was the same as Solomon’s – “all is vanity.”

I lived this way for 6 years and then moved to California at age 27. The Lord sent 4 witnesses to me in the first 5 months I lived alone in the San Francisco Bay area. I responded to the fourth, my cousin, by receiving the simple promise of forgiveness and eternal life by faith and in prayer. The LORD had been pursuing me and working in me all along (Hosea 11:4; John 6:44)! A coworker who had witnessed me for months invited me to her church where I grew through the faithful witness and love of God’s people there. A whole new world opened up to me (Psalm 119:130) and the preaching of God's whole counsel gave me satisfying answers to my questions and emptiness. He showed me my purpose and future, gave me His presence within, joy to go with my sadness, and a Savior to walk through life with. He also gifted me with my precious wife, Sheila, and we’ve enjoyed a very full 31 years together full of grace, truth, and His faithfulness. The Lord has shown me the good works that He had prepared beforehand for me (Ps. 16:6, 11; Eph. 2:10) and has crowned my days with lovingkindness regardless of my performance.

Now, I am enjoying the “crown of the aged” – grandchildren (Prov. 17:6)! God is so good and so worth following, no matter what hardships come my way, and He has promised me that I will dwell in His house forever. His praise will continually be in my mouth (Psalm 34:1). I encourage you to call on His name, too. He receives all who do!