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Eric's Story

Apr 19, 2012

I am the son of two Haitian immigrants and I was blessed to grow up in a very nice home. My family was often compared to the Huxtables from the Cosby show since we were the well to do black family in a predominately white neighborhood of Katy, Texas.

I didn’t grow up a Christian for a good part of my life; however, that changed when I went to a vacation Bible school in the summer of 1993. A youth pastor named Bill share the good news of Jesus Christ one night, and I decided to check the box and pray the prayer to receive Jesus Christ into my heart. From that point, I became very passionate about God. I carried that passion forward in college and even helped found a chapter of a Christian fraternity at my university while I was in graduate school. However, after college, things changed in ways I never imagined.

I had a dispute with the church where I originally met the Lord and wound up leaving the church. I left for valid reasons; however, how I lived afterwards wasn’t valid. I started getting involved in partying here in Houston and I was always out at the nightclubs every Friday or Saturday night in town, despite me being involved in another church and serving inner-city kids every other Friday morning. In the summer of 2007, I was blessed to land an incredible job with a large pharmaceutical company and relocated to Chicago.

Living in the Windy City seemed like the best thing that ever happened to me on the surface. I got to work for a Fortune 100 company and travel all over the world in luxury on someone else’s dime. I took advantage of that good life that I had and partied in some of the best spots in the world. In addition, I had my choice of women and, unfortunately, I didn’t discriminate.

Despite having everything available to me, I wasn’t happy with my life and I didn’t enjoy the work I was doing. Looking back, I realize this was a result of having an empty feeling and not being truly fulfilled. I said goodbye to my employer and the cold winters in June 2009 and came back to Houston unhappy, bitter and deep in debt as I am tall, and I’m 6’8”!

At first, I didn’t know what to do and instead of doing what I was taught, in turning to God, I turned to using adult websites to seek relief. Well, those ladies on the computer didn’t fulfill me anymore than the ladies I used to be involved with. By the grace of God though, my close friends started to reach out to me and let me know how they felt about my life and I finally started to slowly give my life to God and receive accountability from my brothers.

I purchased Covenant Eyes on my laptop and once I had those reports sent out to my brothers, that habit I had died. Then, a pastor at a church I was visiting knew about my debt and had me take Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University and once I did that, God showed me how to be free of debt. I became debt free on February 4, 2011! Finally, God worked through me on finding a job. I had to work as a contractor for a few places, but in November 2010, He provided me with the perfect job. I do travel a lot, but now, I have an accountability system set up to where I’m not making the same choices I once did.

The reason I believe my life turned around is because of Jesus Christ and Christ alone. I was at a point where only God could turn my life around because honestly, I was trapped in the fast life and I had no way out. I realized looking back that I never had to live that way. If you feel like you are trapped, just know that you don’t have to be. So, are you willing to give Jesus a try? Take it from me, if you think doing the same thing and expect different results works, that’s just plane insanity! Jesus Christ wants to end that insanity that the world expect us to be in; however, the question is, do you want to be free?

- Eric

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