Andy Good

It all started at the age of 6. I prayed a prayer at vacation bible school to ask Jesus to be my Savior.

Life went on, and many things came my way, some good, some not, some I had a hard time dealing with. I was homeschooled, which I didn't mind.

When I first joined a youth group I wasn't particularly popular and never really fit in. This was partly my own fault because I never really thought I needed to be part, just simply come and listen and take action. I became a very bitter and confused person from different experiences in my life, and I didn't really know for sure what it meant to be a child of God, or if I even was one. I had always been taught the bible, and prayed the prayer at such an early age I never really saw a change, a huge definite change, in me. I did know that my life was not where it needed to be...I wasn't the "bad kid" into drugs or anything like that, but I was miserable on the inside. I "prayed the prayer" so many times in my life hoping something would change, but the the doubts and fears never left my mind. At one point in my life there was a time when began to doubt the very God I said I believed in.

Since I was homeschooled, the main way I could find a good social life was through church. I took that for granted. We moved churches, and that was when I was at the peak of the struggle in my life. I was even more bitter and confused about why life had to turn out the way it did, and I alienated myself from the new youth group I had joined even though I was around them all the time. But it was through my being there that my heart began to be softened.

I saw such a joy in the people in the church and I wondered why I never felt that joy and peace. I began trying to reach out more, and began trying to seek God more in my everyday life. I went through times where I wondered if I could keep on, because it seemed like God wasn't there. I felt like there was no answer for me, when all along, the answer was in my heart all along...I had to let go of the past, let go of my fear of the future, and let God be my delight and trust Him to give me the strength to live for today. I realized this at a time in my life when I couldn't have been more confused, lonely, afraid, and miserable. But since then I have been dramatically changed. There are days I still struggle. God sometimes doesn't take the trouble away, but rather He just gives you the strength to see it through. Everytime I feel lonely or am tempted to feel that way, I can turn to God, and I find a hope for my life. God isn't a fix-it-all, He's a friend who sticks closer than anyone.