My condensed testimony

"Clap your hands for baby Jesus!" I would sarcastically say all too often in my late teen, early adulthood years.  I would go as far as raising my hand up in the air and acting like I was reaching for the heavens.  My insecurities and ignorance in all things spiritual and religious-based caused me to act ridiculously.  And ridiculously I acted, for years.   Jokingly, when people would annoy me or say something that made no sense I would place my hand on their forehead, push back and say "demons out."  I told Scott Squires about doing this act and he said there was something very spiritually powerful about that.  Perhaps demonic?  The people became less annoying after pushing them but I think it was because they were more in shock than the spirit having much to do with it.  

Fast forward to the fall/winter of two thousand and six.  I worked at Bridges Community Care in Pittsburg, Kansas.  I swear I was asked daily which church I attended and got multiple invites to attend so-and-so's church.  I started lying saying I attended St. Mary's so co-workers would get off my back.  Around the same time Phil and I started going to the mall deli frequently.  Jim, the owner of The Mall Deli, sat us in "Kate's" section each time we visited.  He must've thought we really liked her, which we did.  Kate would take our order and make small talk between serving our sodas and deli burgers.  One day I discovered that she went to bible college for a year prior to attending PSU.  That baffled me.  I later found out that her dad is a pastor!  That really came as a shock to me.  She invited us to church several times with many excuses on my part as to why we could not attend.  In Spring she invited us to watch her church's version of the play Thirty Pieces which was held at the Memorial Auditorium.  I figured it was a public place, why not.  We enjoyed the play, told Kate what a great job she'd done, and then literally ran down the steps of the auditorium avoiding having to talk to anyone else from her church.  Looking back at that moment, I always laugh. 
Two months later, July 25. 2006, I received my first bible and started attending Covenant Harvest Church.  In March 2007 I was baptized in the holy spirit.   

While there has been lots of questioning of this and that on my part, life has been so much more enriching since finding God and actually walking with Him instead of against Him.  I raise my hand in love and faith now.  I clap for Jesus the savior, the redeemer, the graceful son.  
That's the short story.