xavier's 2002 Toyota Solara SE

I grew up in a church-going home but never really new the real deal. I knew God existed adn I knew Jesus was his son. I knew that Jesus died on the cross for my sins but never actually knew what that meant.

My teenage years and early 20's were filled with drug use and other illegal activity. I was arrested twice, kicked out of my home, and living on the streets when I was 18. At age 20, I joined the Army and spent 3 years active duty. While in AIT, I met a beautiful woman who I later married.

During my military career, I tried to keep my drug use a part of my life and even got my new wife into drugs. We went down a dark path that almost endedd our marriage several times. I met a man name George Yokas, a former infantry soldier turned Army mechanic, who had very similiar stories as I had. He had come to know Christ a year earlier and my wife and I started going to a small church with him outside of Fort Stewart. I knew the stories and verses from when I was a child and acted much like a Christian and continued to hang out with George.

After exiting the military, I moved to PA with my wife and son. We continued to use drugs and watched a few friends get arrested with drugs. It wasnt long before we decided that we didnt want drugs around our son so we quit drugs. I was in college and working so most of my time was occupied without drugs which helped. My wife was working full-time so she stayed clean pretty easily as well. We started going back to church in PA for a short stint but was quickly turned off by internal church politics.

After I graduated college, my wife, son and I moved back to Atlanta. Little by little, I started to realize that God was working in my life. I had struggled financially, physically, and mentally for almost 10 years. As each day went by, we saw more and more blessings enter our lives and knew God was hard at work. My wife became pregnant with our second child and ended up buying a house in Doraville. It became obvious that if we honor God and take care of ourselves, that God would take care of us.

We have continued to be blessed each day and it is amazing to see what God is up to. I have since gotten a new job and our financial "belt" has loosened up a lot. It really is amazing to see God work. We havent yet found a Church that we want to become members of but we are still looking. We went to Buckhead Church for a while but didnt really feel all that comfortable there. Either way, God is in us everday and everywhere we go. ANyways, I think I'm rambling so I will stop. I just think it is amazing what God has done in our lives so I thought I'd share.

Oh yeah, I love cars :)