Growing up as a young boy in the Catholic Church until around age sixteen I understood and experienced very little biblically. I went to Catholic elementary school for a few years, baptized as a child, became an altar boy, received my Holy Communion, and went to an all boys Catholic High School for two years. 

I left the Catholic church around sixteen because I got nothing further from it. Not seeing any value in it I sought out other things in life that filled my thought felt needs. There’s no doubt I was on the inside still searching for answers. I discovered I loved sports.

Coming from a divorced family with seven boys, we were poor and had no hope of secondary education. My talent in soccer grew and I was named to the Suffolk County All-League Team that year. To my surprise, I was also named to the All-Suffolk-County Team, the highest honor at my position of inside forward.

Soccer awarded me a partial college scholarship, but after a year of struggling academically and over concerns at home, I quit. With a friend we moved to New Jersey to get jobs and find work. After about a year of this I was hitchhiking home from work because my mustang was in need of repair. A man had picked me up. When I got into the car the first thing he asked was “Have you ever asked Jesus into your heart”? I was taken back. Those are not the words you expect to hear when you first get in a car when hitchhiking. 

His question brought back memories of two of my high school girl friend’s who visited me while I worked as a lifeguard at the beach during summers. They made a special trip to tell me that Jesus loved me and they did too. Just like the experience with the driver, I did not have a clue what they were trying to tell me. One of the girls gave me a Bible. Their personal story of their Jesus encounter and that Bible seeded a beginning that changed everything.