My Story
How I Became a Christian
I grew up in a typical middle-class family in the 60's. My Dad had his own business selling post cards and gifts to tourist shops in New Orleans. My Mom kept the home until we got older. We attended a Baptist church where I heard the Bible preached. At twelve I made a decision to trust Jesus Christ as my savior. But I began to turn from my faith when I encountered problems at school and home. After school I would spend hours riding my Kawasaki 100, then later my Penton 125 with friends down by the canal. The more troubles I had with my parents, the more I withdrew into dirt bikes. By the time I was 17 my parents divorced and I had joined a motocross racing team. I converted an old van to haul two bikes, tools, gear and a bed. My friends and I would go to races and spend the night.
I always worked hard and had spending money. But I also began smoking marijuana and getting drunk. I started winning races, so I quit smoking cigarettes and started training seriously. My dream was to become a pro motocross racer.
One day at a race in Waggaman, my reckless lifestyle caught up with me. After the first moto I reached into the ice chest and grabbed a beer. I drank a few more to cool down. A friend lit a joint and I took a few puffs. Then I went out and raced the second moto. I made a mis-calculation on a dangerous section of track. I was accelerating out of a 60 foot ravine when my bike looped. I was going about 40 mph and was 15 feet up in the air when I had to step off the bike. I can still remember seeing my bike land on its wheels and roll into the crowd that parted before it. I landed sideways on my right ankle and tumbled head over heels down the track.
I remember the ambulance ride and the emergency room. The ER staff cut my expensive leather race pants against my wishes. When I was on the x-ray table, the technician turned my foot and my leg just stayed straight because all the bones in my ankle were crushed. I had to bite my wallet because of the pain.
I had broken bones before, but this was different. The doctors told me I’d never walk again. My Mom rallied prayer support. A specialist was called in to re-build my ankle with screws. I spent my 18th year in and out of the hospital. I lived that whole year on crutches. Fortunately I kept my job as a counter salesman at a refrigeration supply house, but had to move back in with my mother. I lost my dream of becoming a pro motocross racer -- but I still didn’t turn back to God.
Years passed and I became a commercial oil-field diver, met a lovely lady and got married. Linda and I bought a small camp and some land on the Tangipahoa River. We planned to build a new home over-looking the river. But the infamous flood of ‘83 came while Linda was pregnant with our first child. We got flooded out of our camp and the river washed away our septic tank, gas tank, water well, vegetable garden and 1/3 of our 2 acres of land. If you stepped off our back porch you would fall 25 feet down into the new river channel. Soon afterward, the oil-field went into a slump and I lost my job.
A few months later my daughter, Lacey, was born very sick. She had mysterious infection and a 50/50 chance to survive. Linda wasn’t allowed to hold her so she became scared. I’ll never forget my first look at Lacey through the glass window of the father’s waiting area. That little screaming, pre-mature baby was attached to an IV, monitor wires and oxygen in the incubator. Still, I didn’t shed a tear.
After the first two days I was allowed to scrub down, don a mask and gloves and hold her in intensive care. They told me someone needed to start “bonding” with the baby and her mother was too sick. I would hold her and talk to her and tell her not to cry. I would pray for her, but in a casual, shallow way because it was all I knew to do. Still my heart remained hard.
The local church started praying for us. Although they had come out to visit us, we told them we weren’t interested. For some reason they were still interested in us. The doctors didn’t know what Lacey had, so they just gave her ampicillin. Three days later they isolated the infection. Guess what the cure was? Ampicillin.
Looking back I can see that God was at work, answering someone’s prayer, working out his will. Finally, after two weeks Linda and Lacey re-gained their health and returned home - what was left of it. We had to move in with someone else in town until our house could be re-built and moved away from the edge of the riverbank. The bridge had washed out, so we had to drive several miles out of the way then hike down a trail for a few miles to get to the river. Finally we crossed the river in a little flat-boat to get to our home. I would go there to work on it every day.
The months passed, God miraculously sent some money to move the house and we moved back in, but my heart remained unmoved. I was still living my life apart from God. Money was hard to come by as I was still unemployed. I was struggling with tremendous feelings of guilt because I wasn’t supporting our struggling young family.
One day, while Linda and Lacey were gone, I drove my old International Scout into town to make a withdrawal from my dwindling checking account. When I got back home I couldn’t find the twenty dollar bill. So I drove back to the bank and asked the teller if she’d given me the money with the slip. She looked at me like I was crazy.
I drove back home and walked in the door. I muttered angrily to myself, “You know, it’s come to the point when I can’t even drive a twenty dollar bill home!” I just lost control. I started breaking furniture, tossing chairs around and having a temper tantrum. Anger turned to grief. I fell onto the floor, face down and started sobbing. Finally, after all the tragedy and problems, my heart broke before God. After a while, I said to God, “There’s not much left to my life, but what’s left, you can have.” In that moment I could feel God reach down and pull my frustration, anger, despair, and worry off of me. It was like pulling up a tree by the roots. Suddenly I felt an unexplainable peace come over me. It was as if God had been right there all those years, waiting for me to surrender to His will.
In those moments I made a new commitment to Him. I decided to “do” what was in the Bible, not just “read” it. I took the family to the church that ministered to us in our time of need. After hearing God’s Word, Linda made a decision to ask Jesus into her heart. We started a new life that has been abundant, secure and meaningful. Although problems still come, we now have the answer. Though we still have our disagreements, we are still on the same team. God’s peace, provision and purpose have filled our lives. Soon after joining that church I got a business opportunity that led me on a new path. Years later, God has called me into ministry and I attended Seminary for six years, eventually graduating with a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministries with a major in Biblical Studies. I tried pastoring a church for three years, then teaching Junior High Bible at a Christian school for seven years, but eventually God led me to go back to the motocross racing community with the good news of His love, forgiveness and truth. Jesus said, “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
There’s no greater satisfaction than finding what you were created for, then doing it! Now He is taking the truth to new people through my speaking and writing. Today our children Lacey and Kyle are strong and healthy. Lacey is in college and Kyle is working. They are trying to find their own way in life. We still have problems, but God is always there to strengthen us and answer our prayers.
For God to be God, you have to just ... let Him be God of your life. Don’t just believe in Him - trust Him. Jesus died for our sins so we could be made right with God by faith. Jesus paid the price to “buy us back” from our life of sin. He has overcome death and evil for us. We can have this victory and live forever with Him if we are willing to yield to Him.
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)
R.J. 10/16/03