April 25, 2010 - Joey Johnson

April 25, 2010

In January 2009 my wife and I separated. Anyone who has been through this knows the hurt that this will bring. I not only lost my wife but I also lost the time with my kids. Although I see them on the weekends it is not the same as seeing them every night. The first few months of our separation I found myself sleeping very little at night. I had a loss of appetite and found myself always worrying about everything. I spent many nights crying myself to sleep. I have many friends that are close to me, but somehow they could never give me the answers I needed. With my own agenda, my son and I soon began attending Trinity. In just a few visits, the Lord opened the eyes of my heart, and I knew this is somewhere I needed to be. I began reading my Bible and praying; which are things I had never done before. I asked a close friend one night, “How do you pray?” He told me, “Talk to God like you would to a friend.” I began talking to and asking God to help me with small things at first. I asked that he help me with my sleepless nights and all my worrying. Shortly after that I found that when I went to bed I was falling fast asleep. As far as the worrying, the Lord introduced me to people from Trinity who would just sit and listen to me talk about the things that bothered me. Even if they said nothing it helped just talking and having someone listen. After a few months I joined Trinity. As I learned more about God, I learned not to pray for things I wanted. Instead I thanked Him for what I had. During “Weekend of the Cross” I felt God put his hand on my shoulders. As I looked around that weekend, I was in awe of his love and grace...amazed what everyone was doing for Him. That Saturday night I asked God to be my Lord and Savior. I prayed that He would give me the knowledge to learn His word, so that I would be able to share and pass it on to others around me. It has been over a year now since my wife and I separated. We have come to a conclusion that our marriage is over. We are both going in different directions. With this loss in my life, God has opened my eyes to my future. He has shown me my life does not end here; it is merely a new beginning. He has a lot more good things in store for me.

If you asked me how God changed my life, I would have to say that I changed my life for Him. He just helped by putting the right people in my life. I thank him daily for these people in my life…I am truly blessed by His love and grace!

Joey Johnson