CreedFeed Community - Christmas Testimony

My testimony...

It was Christmas time, 1985, Augusta Georgia on a cool winters day...

Stationed at Fort Gordon, I was preparing for my first Christmas away from my childhood home and all of my family. This ate at me tremendously, as I was only 18 and had hardly left the only family I knew but a few times for Boy Scout activities and the usual sleepovers with the few true friends I made during my school years... I lived on my own out of high school, but this was a lot further than I had ever strayed from my kin folk.

They were all back in California, and I missed it so.

Most if not all of my fellow soldiers were going home for Christmas. There were a few stragglers, a couple of older guys who never had a family but the military, and then some of my superiors who called Fort Gordon home because it literally was. They asked me several times why I wasn't going home, mostly out of pity but I could sense some concern in their words...

You see, until I was 12 everything in my life was perfect! I was born and raised in Sunny Southern California, had more than any kid needed as far as toys, friends, extra curricular activities, etc... Grandparents lived down the street, Nana right around the corner, and I, with my loving family of 5, occupied a beautiful 4 bedroom ranch home with an in ground pool.

Life was good!!!

Or was it?

John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me."

Throughout the ages, every thoughtful human being who has lived on this earth has asked this question, "What is the meaning of my life?" Some never find the answer; some are too busy to find it; some may think they have found it; and there are some who have realized the purpose of life.

I had no clue.

Does any teen? Maybe, but I often subscribe to the notion that if things in life haven't whipped your ass you rightfully can stare aimlessly into the clouds on any given day and never know what you have...

~The Summer of 1977

I remember it like it happened yesterday...

My Mother asked me into her bedroom to talk to me. There she sat on the edge of her waterbed, patting the corner of her comforter to lead me in...

She began to try to explain to me that people sometimes don't see eye to eye forever, and that herself and my Father were in that situation and had been for some time. She explained that they had been technically married for over 15 years, but only together in love for a short few. They were preparing to get a divorce.

Blindsided and confused, I rebelled... HARD!

I couldn't understand why God would allow this to happen to me, why I would have to endure not having what was so good for so many years anymore, and why my parents would choose to hurt me and let me down like this. Life now sucked, and I took it out on everyone around me. I started cutting classes in school, partaked in illegal drugs and alcohol, redefined myself with everything from new outcast friends to clothes and even hair color...

Oh, and denounced God!

~Back to 1985

So here I was, "No Preference" on my dog tags, still pissed at God and the World. I left base to go downtown and grab a pizza just to get away from the emptiness the hollow corridors of the barracks displayed. There was a mini mall attached to a K Mart and a little pizza joint there that I loved to eat at to break the monotony of Army grub. I sat down at a corner booth, which again reminded me of how big things seem when you are alone, and ordered a couple slices of pizza and Coke. Across the room sat a man, obviously unbathed and in need of nutrition. He had an overcoat that had seen better days I'm sure, and shoulder length scraggly hair. I got up and proceeded to head over to his table, just not wanting to be alone and very curious as to what he would possibly be doing in this restaurant that obviously seemed a 5 star resort through his eyes...

We had a few short words, and then he asked why I wasn't going home for Christmas?

He knew?

How?

My food arrived. I just let it sit there for a few minutes while I was explaining to him what I had went through as a child and then he asked why I wasn't eating?... I told him I was waiting for his food to arrive out of courtesy, and I would eat with him when it did. "I didn't order anything", he said, "I can't afford to eat here, I only come in here to stay warm"... I offered him one of my pizza slices and he kindly accepted. I then asked him if he wanted a drink and got him a glass of water, as per his request. We continued to talk about everything that had happened in my life, why I was upset at God and my family, why I joined the Army etc, and he repeatedly would finish my sentences for me. Like he had done the same thing earlier in his life, or just met enough guys like me that this was old hat.

After a half an hour of discussion and an order of breadsticks, he said he had to go and thanked me for the offerings... He left me with one thing, besides being freaked out that he knew everything I was going to say... "You only have one family, it is led by God, managed by your parents, and governed by all of your actions".

Man how true that is!!! I called a few of my friends, scrounged up enough money to get a Greyhound ride to Cali, and headed home for Christmas!!!

It wasn't the Christmas I used to know, but I realized it didn't have to be for everyone to be together and celebrate the true meaning behind Christmas. I called my Dad on to let him know I loved him and wished him well, was able to see my brother, sister, and Mom, and spent the few days of leave I had visiting all of my relatives I could track down.

You see, it was at this time in my life that I realized that it's not about me, not about what I can obtain, not what life owes me, but what I can do to help and improve those lives around me. With His Word, His guidance, I became a new person and devoted everything I had to try to walk in His footsteps and be the best person I could be toward everyone who's life interacted with mine. Then, now, and forever to come...

~This was my Christmas, 1985.

Merry Christmas my friends, 2005!

Peace,

David