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catholicdan
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| Joined: | Wed Jul 11th, 2007 |
| Location: | Merced, California USA |
| Posts: | 61 |
| First Name: | Danny | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | From A 2 Z now on to RC. |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 05:33 pm |
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Well, my name is Dan and as you can see by my user name I am on the jouney home.
I just finished reading many of the conversion stories and am excited about what God is doing in the lives of his poeple. I too was not raised a Catholic and that is what I am going to post here today, my conversion story.
I was adopted at the tender age of three months old by two parents who could not have children of their own. My birth mother was only 13 and my birth father was only 15 when I was concieved. My birth father was Irish and my birth mother was Mexican. Of course having me to raise at thier age was not a wise choice but at least they chose to put me up for adoption (a whole other topic).
I was dedicated as a baby to God in the Reformed church which my adoptive mother was a member. Dad was as he would put it, "a heathen" who would attend church only when mom ordered it so.
Things were good until I hit the age of 5 years old. I remember that age because that was the first time I ever heard a man strike a women with all the rage one could muster. Three years before I was adopted my adoptive parents adopted my sister Lisa who is three older than I. We both were sitting in the living room when our parents started to argue and that is when we heard the smacking of my dad's hand hitting my moms face. We were so terrified that we could not move. My dad turned and looked at both of us with the same rage and anger and my sister grabbed me by the hand and out the door we went to our next door neighbors home and asked for help. Our neighbor's wife took us inside and her husband went next door to see if he could help. That was the beginning of what I call that days of change and termoil.
My mom was a very faithful women and never would have thought of leaving my dad. She would take my sister and I to church every Sunday and after church we would stop at the local donut shop for the best freshest donuts in town. Of course we had to behave in church to get this treat. These were times that were special to me as a boy because they were times of fun and happiness.
When I hit my 13th birthday my dad decided that I no longer had to attend church if I didn't want to. I thought that was great. Now my Sundays would be with him going fishing and drinking with the boys. Yes, at thirteen years old I was already well on my way to becoming the best beer drinker and drug user in the family. After all, as long as my friends and I did these things at home when mom was not around dad had not problem with it. He even bought us the beer and smoked pot with us boys!
I didn't really know God because all I knew about God was that he was some great dude who you couldn't know personally and if you did anything wrong you were dead meat. So I figured that I had nothing to lose living the wild life and live it I did.
I joined a gang in the summer of my thirteenth year and that is when I became Vandal. This was not you average street gang like the Bloods or the Crips. Our "roll models" were the Hells Angels and Saints and Sinners. By the time I hit the old age of 16 I had four felonies under my belt and ended up doing two years for assult and battery on a police officer. I had a lot of hate and rage, something I inherited from my dad. My dad was also a gang member until he got married to my mom but still had the mindset of dealing with problems with his fists.
Just before my arrest after being of the run for almost a year, two of my friends were contracted for hits and both ended up dead. I was next and I was scared! That is what caused me to give myself up and I had to be put in a facility that did not have any known affiliates of rival gangs.
This was the best and worst of times for me.
I was sitting in my dorm (that is what you would call a work camp for youth) and I just started to cry. Here I was this hardcore young man who would take your head off for just looking at me wrong and I could not stop crying. I just broke down and for the next two hours I just wept. I hated my life, I hated myself and I really hated my dad most of all. He only told me he loved me once and that was when he was drunk and I had to drive him home form the bar (I was only 14). Man I was a mess!
One of the "couselors" at the work camp noticed my face full of tears and came over to ask me what was wrong. I didn't know what to say but just blurt out the same sentence, "I hate you, I HATE you, I HATE YOU!" This poor guy wasn't sure why I hated him I didn't even know him. But what he didn't know what I was not saying this to him, I was saying it to my dad.
The counselor asked me if I ever went to church and that is when I flew into a rage. I told him that, "If God really was real then he would not have allowed all this (bad words here) to happen to me!!!". This man was unreal. He just put his hand on my shoulder and asked if he could pray for me. Pray for me?! I thought to myself, If it makes you feel better bubba go ahead.
I don't know what happened right then but I could feel a peace that I never ever experienced in my life. It was as if I was being hugged by someone yet he wasn't hugging me when he prayed. The counselor gave me a smile as a tear rolled down his face and said he was going to send someone to talk with me. I don't know why I agreed but I did. This was the beginning of my journey home.
The next day I was met by a short older fellow who had a little baseball cap on that read, "Happy Chappy". He sat down next to me on my bunk and handed me a bible. I was thinking to myself, "Great! Now he is going to tell me how much God loves me". And that is what he did. But this time it was different. Something about those words seems sincere. It planted a seed that started to grow. Happy Chappy asked me if I would be willing to attend a bible study that night and I was game since it was the only way to get out of doing kitchen duty!
I had a really powerful experience when I was locked up for those two years. But one experience really stays in my mind. Now I will tell you when I was released I still struggled with drugs and fighting, but I did get out of the gang and God somehow stopped the hit on me. But back to that one experience.
As time went on in that workcamp, I started to attend bible study and began holding prayer meetings. Our little group went from about 6 guys to over 35 in about a months time! This was my first real experience in seeing God's power move in our lives and mine specifically. Now our group was not Catholic but we did have all different kinds of faiths present at these bible studies and prayer meetings.
One night when I was really going through a time of struggle, five of us gathered around my bunk to pray. I was really in a faith crisis and my friends wanted to pray with me. We formed a circle and began to pray one by one. As I was look down at the floor I started to feel this presence that I never felt before. When I looked over to my right side I saw a pair of feet next to mine, the funny thing was these feet had sandles on and scars in them. I looked up a little further and there was this man with a white rob who had joined us for prayer. I started to shake and become afraid then I heard him whisper in my ear, "do not be afraid danny, I love you and have always been by your side'. I then felt a joy so powerful that I could not contain it! I started to laugh and cry at the same time! It was as if every weight had fallen off my shoulders and I knew God loved Danny for the first time.
That was when I really started to look for this God that I needed so bad. I was released and back out on the street not to long after. I did not have any foundation in my faith or a church to go to so after a while I ended up doing drugs and getting in fights. The things was, every time I got high it was just no fun anymore. I once again had no peace.
I know that this is long but I need to tell my story.
In January of 1983 I went to a concert with a friend, he just forgot to tell me that is was a "Christian" concert. At first I was bit agitated with him but then as the concert went on I began to get those feelings back that I experienced two years before in the workcamp.
At the end of the concert a challenge was given to come up the the front and give our lives to Jesus. I almost ran up there and pushed people out of my way. I gave my life to Jesus that day and was not going to look back again.
I ended up joining a Charasmatic church in San Jose California and started to study all I could about the Christian faith. That is when I started to see some things that the church was practicing that didn't seem to line up with the bible and so after about two years I left to find the church of God.
Once again I stumbled and fell back into drinking and drugs. Yes I have fallen a few times. I was frustrated and during this time I was married and had two little boys. Their mom went to the store one day and never came back and my boys and I were all alone. It was very hard to see two boys who would cry themselves to sleep at night, and I could not tell them where there mom was or why she left. It was the worst of times.
I ran into some trouble with the law and ended up almost losing my boys. This was one of God's spankings that I really needed. I knew too much to keep playing games with God and as the loving Father that he is it was time for a spanking. I repented and started to look for a church again.
This time I found this little church that was meeting in a school classroom on Sundays and Wednesday nights. I thought this was the place I needed to be. The first meeting I went to was an evangelistic meeting or what they called a "Revival" meeting. The strange thing was that these people were praying in a lanuage I had heard before in the Charasmatic church which is known and "togues". It made me a bit uncomfortable but I got past it when I heard the preacher preach a message that I had not heard before. He preached on holiness and sanctification. How we need to be a holy people of God and stop loving the things of this world. I was hooked.
I eventually became an associate pastor in one of their churches and that is when another challenge started to come to light.
I was happy with our walk with God. When I say our walk, I met my wife second in that church and we were deep into ministry. We were running a men's recovery home and I was preaching at the church and also becoming the church apologist. But something was missing. I could not put my finger on it but it was enough to put me on edge at times. I even asked the senior pastor and his wife to help me and my wife because this was really affecting our relationship too. They seem to be too busy to really be of any help, so I started to seek it out on my own.
One day as I went the to local Salvation Army thrift store I found a book entitled, "The Open Church". This book was about how the early church functioned as a communiity, if fact the statement the author made was, "It is not the church in the community but the church in community". He went on about how they held all things in common and had a love that drew the vialist of sinners in. I was now on a new journey to find out more about this early church. The author gave some references in the back of the book for further reading and I went out a bought a book titled, "Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up!'.
I was raised in a Rormed church, got saved in a Charasmatic church, fell and ended up coming back to God in a Pentecostal Holiness church and now I found this book that really started to shake me faith in what was church!
I started to study this book and thought I had found out what the real church is and should be. So I took it to the senior pastor (big mistake on my part) and he called me and said we needed to talk. The sound of his voice was not comforting to say the least.
Not long after that and after my wife and I started to teach what we had learned from our studies, I was asked to resign from that church because as the pastor put it, "I was sounding like a Catholic". This was a very huge statement because I was the one in the church who you went to when you wanted to show how wrong Catholics were. I had all the text I needed to prove that the Catholic Church as very much the false church. I am leaving a lot out but if you knew me then your mouth would have hit the floor and you would have passed out from shock.
We left this church and I started to study further into this matter of the early church and it writers. Believe it or not, we ended up at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. I know it was strange but we did because I was not yet completely convinced on all the early church writers points of view.
We stayed in the SDA church for about five years and then those early church writers started to become of interest again. I just could not wrap my mind around the SDA prophet as being a prophet. There were a lot of things that flew in the face of the early church writers, not to mention Holy Scripture.
I finally just hit what I called a spiritual and theological crisis. I went to one of our SDA pastors and started asking him about the early church writers and what I found in their writings that caused me to rethink the SDA stand on certain subjects. His response was, "those writings are interesting". I asked him if he studied them when he was in seminary and he said that they did but not extensively. I never got any further with him on this matter.
I sat with my wife and expressed to here that I could no longer attend the SDA church do to what I have discoverd or uncovered through my studies of the early church writers. We both agreed to leave the SDA church.
So now my wife and I were going to not every step foot inside another church unless it was the real church of God. There has to be a real authentic church of God. Not just the "invisible" church but one that you know is the real church of God.
I purchased of copy of the ten volume set of the Ante_Nicean Fathers and began to read. More and more I started to see that every church I was in had a form of the true faith but denied the great power of the real faith.
I then purchased a book titled "A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs" written by the same author as the Heretics book. This Dictionary is keyed to the ten volume set of the Ante-Nicean fathers that I purchased. I then began to dig deep into the ancient faith. One thing that I did was to set aside all that I had been taught as a Reformed Charasmatic Pentecostal Sevenday Adventist faither, and start with a blank slate.
Well to make a long story short, I am now on my way to becoming a Catholic. The thing that drew me to the Church is history. Yes, history. I am convinced beyond a showdow of a doubt that there is a visible true Church of God and it is The Roman Catholic Church.
I am in the process of writing down my conversion story. What you have read is only bit and pieces. I have been through a lot to find the truth and even now am on the verge of losing our home due to losing my job due to gaining my faith. And you know what? If we have to live in a tent under a bridge and fish for our food, then that cross is extremely light compared to the things I went through and have experienced. I believe that God may require all I have but it is nothing compared to all He gives.
God Bless you all,
catholicdan
____________________
"To be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant." Cardinal Newman
"Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux,
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux"
May the Holy Cross be my Light.
Let not the dragon be my guide.
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Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1212 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 06:01 pm |
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| Dear Catholicdan, what a powerful, powerful story. Thank you for sharing it with us. It is a slice of reality, and shows how God doesn't give up on us. I pray you and your family will be taken care of by Providence. Welcome to the catholic faith and to the forum.
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catholicdan
Member
| Joined: | Wed Jul 11th, 2007 |
| Location: | Merced, California USA |
| Posts: | 61 |
| First Name: | Danny | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | From A 2 Z now on to RC. |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 07:22 pm |
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Thank you for your encouragement. God has been leading me to write down my conversion story and share it with as many people as I can. My wife and I are very excited about our conversion.
Thanks.
____________________
"To be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant." Cardinal Newman
"Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux,
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux"
May the Holy Cross be my Light.
Let not the dragon be my guide.
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4981 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 08:48 pm |
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catholicdan wrote: Well, my name is Dan and as you can see by my user name I am on the jouney home.
Welcome, Danny, we're glad to have you here with us. Jump right in and participate as you see fit, and we'll do our best to asnwer any questions you might have along the way. I haven't read your story yet but I will. I just got home from work, and I wanted to welcome you before our chat starts.
Once again, welcome to the Coming Home Network, and welcome to the Catholic faith. We're looking forward to welcoming you home.
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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Juan
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| Joined: | Tue Oct 17th, 2006 |
| Location: | Texas USA |
| Posts: | 247 |
| First Name: | unregister | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | unregister |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 11:07 pm |
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Welcome Dan,
May God bless you on your journey,
Sincerely,
Juan
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pam
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| Joined: | Sat Nov 11th, 2006 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 110 |
| First Name: | Pam | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Former Non-denominational Bible Church |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 11:46 pm |
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Dan,
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. You have been through some very painful experiences, yet you see God's Hand in leading you every step of the way. If you are able to get EWTN, be sure to watch this week's Journey Home. The guest had a very similar youth, and you would enjoy hearing how God also worked in his life to bring joy from pain. Journey Home will be repeated several more times this week, and you can also see it on-line, but I'm not sure how! Someone here can help with that, if you need it. Meanwhile, check out the guest's website, but I hope you can watch him on Journey Home too. http://www.johnpridmore.com/
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catholicdan
Member
| Joined: | Wed Jul 11th, 2007 |
| Location: | Merced, California USA |
| Posts: | 61 |
| First Name: | Danny | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | From A 2 Z now on to RC. |
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Posted: Wed Jul 11th, 2007 11:51 pm |
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Thanks for the repies. And yes I saw John on our local Catholic channel. I love to see what God is doing with people from our type of backgrounds. It is really awesome.
catholicdan.
____________________
"To be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant." Cardinal Newman
"Crux Sacra Sit Mihi Lux,
Non Draco Sit Mihi Dux"
May the Holy Cross be my Light.
Let not the dragon be my guide.
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faithfl1
Member
| Joined: | Fri Sep 21st, 2007 |
| Location: | Illinois USA |
| Posts: | 64 |
| First Name: | Sharon | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | protestant, non-denominational (born-again), Roman Catholic |
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Posted: Sat Oct 13th, 2007 01:39 pm |
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| Hi Dan! I've been a member her for a little while, but just now read your story!! It is so great to hear other's stories of their conversion. Thank you for sharing your awesome journey! I converted about 20ish years ago. I am still learninga great deal and couldn't be more happy! I have never felt closer to the Lord as I do now. It is a wonderful experience to be home in the RCC. May God richly Bless you and your family!! Sharon
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Sharon S.
...I love you, Lord, my strength Psalm 18:2
I have the strength for everything through Him who empowers me. Phil 4:13
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heardclarke
Member
| Joined: | Mon Apr 9th, 2007 |
| Location: | Dallas Area, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 197 |
| First Name: | Lisa | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | cradle Episcopalian; confirmed RC Easter 2005 |
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Posted: Wed Oct 17th, 2007 05:04 pm |
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Dear Dan,
Your story is awesome. It isn't too long at all. I think every bit of it is important.
Have you ever heard a song called "I Love You This Much" by a singer named Jimmy Wayne?
Here's how it goes:
He can't remember the times that he thought, Does my daddy love me? Probably not.
That didn't stop him from wishing that he did,
Didn't stop him from wanting or worshipping him.
He guesses he saw him about once a year; he could still feel the way he felt,
Standing in tears, stretching his arms out as far as they'd go, whispering,
"Dad, I want you to know: I love you this much, and I'm waiting on you,
To make up your mind, Do you love me too?
however long it takes, I'm never giving up, no matter what. I love you this much."
He grew to hate him for what he had done,
'Cause what kind of father would do that to his son?
He said, "Damn you Daddy," the day that he died. The man didn't blink,
But the little boy cried: "I love you this much, and I'm waiting on you,
To make up your mind, Do you love me too?
However long it takes, I'm never giving up, no matter what....I love you this much."
Halfway through the service, as the choir sang a hymn,
He looked up above the preacher, and he sat and stared at Him.
He said, "Forgive me Father," as he realized
That he hadn't been unloved and alone all his life.
His arms were stretched out as far as they'd go, nailed to the cross,
For the whole world to know: I love you this much,
And I'm waiting on you, to make up your mind: Do you love Me too?
However long it takes, I'm never giving up, no matter what.....I love you this much."
I know it is long, but I wanted you to have it. This song was my favorite, not long before I decided to join the Church. I could see in my Catholic friends where real love was to be found. I just had to become a part of it.
It is great to meet you.
Love,
Lisa
____________________
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
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Credo Catholic
Member
| Joined: | Sat May 5th, 2007 |
| Location: | Greenville, South Carolina USA |
| Posts: | 1212 |
| First Name: | Marsha | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Baptist, Catholic |
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Posted: Wed Oct 17th, 2007 11:57 pm |
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Lisa, that song is wonderful, I've never heard it before. Thanks for sharing it! 
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heardclarke
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| Joined: | Mon Apr 9th, 2007 |
| Location: | Dallas Area, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 197 |
| First Name: | Lisa | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | cradle Episcopalian; confirmed RC Easter 2005 |
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Posted: Fri Oct 19th, 2007 12:45 am |
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Glad you like it.
____________________
Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.
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3John4
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| Joined: | Tue Feb 13th, 2007 |
| Location: | USA |
| Posts: | 76 |
| First Name: | Dede | | Gender: | Female | | Faith History: | Catholic, Protestant, Catholic |
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Posted: Fri Oct 19th, 2007 03:04 pm |
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Yeah, Lisa, now tell me where Jimmy Wayne has gone!!!!
All his songs are that good, but he seems to have dropped off the face of the earth. 
I know, I know--completely off-topic!
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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 4981 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Fri Oct 19th, 2007 09:31 pm |
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3John4 wrote: now tell me where Jimmy Wayne has gone!!!!
Try his web site.
I know, I know--completely off-topic!
Yup.
____________________
Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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