When given the prompt of “how God has moved in your life” I must admit felt like quite the task. I asked myself that same question and was overwhelmed with answers. How can I limit Him to one answer? He’s been the theme in all my life; from birth, to adolescence, and throughout adulthood. The biggest year for His work, however, began in 2020. That was the year I decided to follow him after a monumentally challenging era. When I was in college, I was like the prodigal son, wasting money and doing detestable things. Going to the bars on Fry Street in Denton became a habitual practice and choosing to lose myself in situationships made me question where my confidence came from. When the school year was over I was welcomed back home with a chance to work myself out of a ‘funk.’ Nine months later I lost my job and didn’t know what to do or where to go. I did not think it would be good for me to come home with bad news, so I left. I moved in with a group of people where Christ was not the center and drugs were what kept that house alive.

After another unsuccessful relationship, I felt my only option was to dedicate myself to healing. After living between couch surfing and my car, my independence became conditional due to funds. One day, however, I was at Oak Grove by Grapevine Lake, and my puppy and I were approached by a man who quickly became my mentor. Keith Walker introduced me to what it meant to care for others the way you would care for a brother or sister. He fed me, and put me in shelter with more than accommodating conditions. He also introduced me to Judy Parsons, who in turn, introduced me to Gateway.

A few months went by and I was once again in another ‘funk.’ I questioned my gut and my own intuition because I was being called many different directions, without testing which ones were in His will for me. The verse that got me through was Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future.” That future, to me, felt so far away. I reconnected with an old friend and believed this would be my last option. Two months of selling drugs put me in jail. The good news is that this chapter became the foundation to where and who I am today.

The bible became my closest friend. It was the only voice I listened to, even when there were seventy two others talking. God moved me into my biggest accomplishment, in my eyes, as to who brings true confidence. Growing up I had stage fright, even though I was one of the loudest kids in class. I saw not being able to get up in front of a crowd and speak as a weakness. But as I can imagine that we all know, God uses those same weaknesses and turns them into strengths. That is exactly what he did. One day, I was reading the Word in the common area of the pod. He gave me a song, “Waymaker”, and told me to worship. So I did just that. The pod erupted as I sang, it caused such a disruption that Officer Toner had to put me back in the cell. Forty days later I was released.

To save some time I’ll shorten the next year in a few sentences. After the time spent in jail I was depressed and dealing with Complex-PTSD. Meaning the regular symptoms added on to visions of the trauma. God has been so good though, because a year later, I was at a new job and was living a healthier lifestyle. He went even further and rescued me from burn out again, merely missing a downward spiral. This day, I can confidently say, by surrounding me with people that love me most, he’s used those moments that medically were defined as ‘manic episodes,’ and turned them into God winks. His Mercy and Favor have been on me for long, but even more so in the last year and a half. He has made himself known when I feel most alone, and the way he turned my storm into a story is how God has moved in my life.