For many, the first step to change is to have had enough misery and not be willing to go back to our old way of life and have come to understand that there is something better for us. We may not understand what to do, but are willing and desire to go in a different direction in our lives.

The second step is to walk with others and know that we have all been through some tough problems and situations. It is a step of admitting at least to ourselves that we do not know everything and we need some help. We are not better than others, but have learned that we are dependent on God and others to see us through.

The next step is to accept that God and others love you as you are a creation of God and as such have needs and need to be loved like all of us. You need to know that if you are not loved, we cannot love God and whatever we do to you is what we do to Him.

God works even though often times our lives are like revolving doors. Each principle offered has been tested by time and all principles come from scripture. We all choose daily to either go in the direction that God has given us or to go in our own direction. We have learned that there is much grace when we go in God’s direction and have learned that he wants us ALL to grow up in Him so we do not have to go through most of the things that we as humans go through. We all choose each day to either accept His blessings or curses by the direction we have chosen to go.

When we first turned to God many of us had a number of serious problems involving money, anger, family, hurts, job, direction, and our own personalities but as we have learned to turn our lives over to God, He has been faithful to help us in all of our needs. As such He has proven Himself to be trustworthy and worth following.

We have learned that salvation comes to those that seek Him and His way and desire to serve Him as he guides us into all Truth no matter how down-and-out we may be or where we may be in the puzzles of life. God through Christ is the solution.

There was a time when many of believed that our problems made life unbearable. It was difficult for many of us to dream of life differently. We all still have problems, but we have learned to deal with problems in a different way bring life and hope to ourselves and others around us. We do not feel deprived of anything but rather we have been freed and have found purpose and a reason for our lives which has brought hope and a new dimension to life. We have new friends, horizons, and new attitudes after many years of despair and frustration many of us have begun to live for the first time.

We enjoy sharing that new life with anyone who is still suffering, as we once suffered by ourselves, and who seek a way out of the darkness and into the Light.

Jesus through His sacrifice for us gave us an opportunity to do something different. It is a choice. Adam was given the choice of the Tree of Life or the Tree of Knowledge. We have the same choice to eat from one tree or the other daily and we choose one Tree or the other, whether we realize it or not. Salvation is a free gift and we have been given a new hope as we have all been called to be priests, prophets, and kings. It is a new thought pattern for many of us as we do not feel that we deserve anything because of all the things that we have done wrong in life and perhaps because of the people that we have hurt.

Jesus gave His life that we may live and have life more abundantly. It is a love beyond our comprehension. Many of us have learned over a period of time that when we have given up our own agendas for His as He did for us, our lives have meaning and have become manageable.

Member 

Association of Pastoral Counselors