Today is a beautiful gift, a gift of life ,to share love and compassion with one another as we reflect on how far God has brought us from the abyss, for there was a time when I was rebellious against God, indulging in the pleasures of the flesh not caring about the sacrifice on the cross, too consumed. with the world and the pleasures of a corrupt and immoral rebellious soul. walking a path of death and destruction, taking the moment to feed my depravity. for I had no real root, of love, I was just an empty shell of a man with no sustainable direction of life just a vagabond wandering in the desert looking for a place to lose himself while ,seeking darkness to conceal my sinful nature not knowing or caring about anything , a man seeking his own destruction by destroying God's holy temple from within, growing farther and farther away from God's holy embrace. feeling like a soul that has hit rock bottom, with no escape, as I pondered this about my life I asked,why did it have to end like this, within a split second I could see my death outside on a bus bench on a dark ,lonely night wondering where did I go wrong, I had all these hopes and dreams snatched away from me by my own disobedience towards God, I had pulled away from my creator thinking I could do what I wanted when I wanted, but that was not the case, even though I had pulled away from God's loving embrace, he never left me, for he was always watching and protecting me from me, and as I sat at that bus bench I. realized, I was ,truly a broken man ,broken in spirit , it was at that moment I realized I wasn't alone, with tears streaming down my face I SURRENDERED AS THE TEARS STEADILY CONTINUED TO FALL LIKE A BROKEN DAM , IN A SHAKEN VOICE, I BEGAN TO CALL ON THE LORD TO TAKE AWAY MY PAIN, CLEANSE MY SOUL AND TRANSFORM MY HEART AND HE DID, I HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED WASHED CLEAN. AND HAVE RECEIVED GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT REMEMBER MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS WHAT HE DID FOR ME HE HE CAN DO 4 YOU