I was raised in a Christian family. My dad helped lead me to the Lord on August 17, 1984. My parents showed all eight of us children they loved us by following God's principles. During my early teens, my family started making some changes. My dad desired for our family to grow closer to the Lord, but I did not like what I was seeing. I began to rebel against the standards God had shown my parents that we needed to follow.

I was listening to the devil's music without my family knowing. Because of the tension I was creating in the home, I deceived myself into believing that the family would do better without me. After being gone a week and a half, with someone the devil provided to lead me astray, my dad and sister came up with a plan to take me to Hephzibah House.

Every single person is a lighthouse. There is the lighthouse which does its job well by shining brightly, and then there is the lighthouse that does not live up to its name. What good is a lighthouse to a ship during a storm if its light is not shining brightly? It is no good, and that is exactly like I was before I left.

When I was around Christians, I would let my light shine because it was easy. When with the unsaved, I would hide it. I was like a lighthouse with heavy fog around it. Any "ship" sailing past in life would not be able to see my light. I was of no use to my Savior in the condition I was in. In loving kindness He showed my parents the way they should take in directing my life.

When I got to Hephzibah House, I was so angry and prideful I would not admit I had done anything wrong. However, a backslidden Christian cannot be under such solid Biblical preaching and not feel convicted. The Holy Spirit was working in me, and I finally broke. I humbled myself before the Lord and asked Him to forgive me for being such a disobedient child both to my parents and to Him.

I will never be able to express the gratitude I feel, for everything the staff did for me. I greatly appreciated the trust they placed in me when I was walking with the Lord again. My life was a mess, but God used the staff to help get my eyes back on Christ. The separation from the world, Biblical counseling, and Christian love was what I needed. This last year has been a year of spiritual growth, and I pray that I will continue to grow until the Lord calls me Home.