Back in 2013, during my freshman year of high school on a Saturday, I wanted to hang out with my friends. Since my parents are divorced, it was my dad‘s
weekend and I knew that he would let me hang out with my friends because my mom
never let me out of the house.
I went over to my friend's house, we played video games and went outside to the pool for a bit. We later went on bikes and started riding around the neighborhood. My friend, later on, said that we should go to an open field to go chill.
So there were about 3 to 4 of us riding our bikes to the field and right next to the field was a church. One of my friends at the time knew the pastor there and said that we were allowed to hang out there.
When the pastor had left, one of the three friends I was with wanted to show us that
the church had new basketball hoops, so he took us behind the building and we saw four brand new basketball hoops. We walked closer to it and noticed that the back door of the church was cracked open. At this time, there were only three of us, and one of my friends said that we should go inside. I quickly said no - and at this time I believed in God, but didn’t at the same time. I had enough respect not to enter a church or break into one, but the two friends I had started peer pressuring me into going in, so we all went inside.
We broke the window to get in, walked around inside, and started to steal any food we found in the kitchen. We then went into other rooms as well as the sanctuary, where we turned on all the equipment and started messing with the production table.
We later ran back into a room where we saw the safe and noticed that it was locked, so we didn’t bother trying to unlock it. We went back into the sanctuary and started playing with the drums and the piano and turned up everything so when they turned it on, everything would be at its loudest. We later noticed that a vehicle was pulling up so we quickly ran back to where the basketball hoops were, hopped on our bikes, and left.
After we finished breaking into the church we wanted to break into more buildings, so we
rode around to find more; which we did, and did the exact same for other
buildings.
My Dad called me and asked if I was ready to get picked up, so he got
me within 25 minutes. On Sunday, he dropped me off at my mom's house
because my weekend with him was done.
Later, I got a call from another one of my old friends who quickly told me that one of the guys that we broke into the church with had told the pastor that we broke into his church. After hearing that, my heart dropped. He also gave the pastor our names and told me that there would be cops within the week, who would come to arrest me either at school or at my house. So a couple of days went by, and I became pretty paranoid. Whenever I went to school, I always sat by the door just in case I had to run. I also always watched my surroundings when I got home and continuously looked outside for the police to come to get me.
It got to the point where I decided to just turn myself in. I told my mother what happened so she drove me back to the Church, to tell the truth.
Once we arrived, there were two police cars at the church and they were about to send them over to arrest me. When the pastor saw me, he was shocked that I turned myself in. He then asked if both parents could come in the morning and speak with him and the police.
After listening to my mom the whole car ride, I went to my room and prayed and told God that if he got me out of that situation, I would believe that he is real and I would serve him.
The next morning, we met with the officer and the pastor, and I quickly explained everything
that happened. He looked at me and said that he was going to drop all the
charges on me because he felt the Holy Spirit tell him not to press
charges. He did tell me though that I still had time to turn my life around and follow
Christ, then looked at me and said that he forgave me.
I had to make a deal with the police department and the pastor not to do anything again,
but they were going to have a restriction on me until I was 18, so if I did anything like what I had done it would be on my record and I would get arrested; however, once I turned 18 my records would be cleared.
I went home that night crying and telling God how much I loved him. That same summer, I went to a youth camp and got saved, so God was really watching
me and allowed me to be in the position that I am in today. I have been a believer ever
since.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;”
Proverbs 3:5-6
My Prayer For You
Father God in the name of Jesus I pray that those who seek you be blessed with the company of genuine and God-fearing friends who push them closer to you. Lord, I pray that you continue to allow our faith to grow stronger even when situations are tough.
I also pray that you continue to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to righteousness and far from any unrighteousness in Jesus' name, amen.
Atlanta, Georgia
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