Praise the Lord!
Hi, my name is Jerrin and I am here to be a witness to Jesus – and tell you how I changed from how I used to be, to who I am now. How I moved from searching for happiness to searching for eternal happiness. So here goes…
After finishing college I took a gap year. I thought money was the key for happiness and so I set out to make it. I started two different jobs and in no time my life got very busy. I never had any time for myself and I started surviving on little sleep. I was earning money and pretending to be happy, but deep down I felt an emptiness.
On the Path to destruction
During this time, my life took a turn, a path not to joy or happiness, but to my own destruction. I started becoming angry because of stress at work. I became restless and started arguments. I stopped eating food at home or spending time with my family and my mom was very unhappy. I thought that the problem was my workplace, so I changed jobs and became a oor manager in a restaurant. At rst I felt good telling others what to do. But after a few days I started feeling the same emptiness. I tried to ignore it and started drinking and partying hard and came home late every night.
A Mother’s Love
But Mom never went to bed until I got in. She was there waiting by the door for me, no matter how late I was. This carried on for months. My beloved mom just sat, cried and prayed every day, because she believed. She had faith in the one called God, in the one called Jesus. She believed that there is someone always listening to your prayers and watching over you. After a few months, my mom heard of a fiveday retreat for young people, called
School of Evangelization (SOE). Mom said: “Son, I have booked a place for you there. Will you go? I will pay you as much money as you want – just go there!” She pleaded with me for three months and annoyed me so much that I finally agreed to go.
A Turning Point in my Life
Maybe I went there for the wrong reasons,in fact I know I did. I thought that I mightmake new friends, new girlfriends perhaps.When I reached the door of the so-called School of Evangelisation, I didn’t know what to expect and I was not really bothered. A day passed, then came the day of confession and spiritual sharing. That was the turning point of my life! I went to a spiritual sharing session and the guy who I saw seemed to know everything about me before I could tell him. He told me about my past life history, my search for happiness, everything. I was shocked, my mind went quiet and I suddenly felt eager to listen to him. He said: “The Lord knows everything before you even ask him. He knew you before you were even born.” He also told me, “Your past is past. You can be a better person.” Those words struck me like a lightning bolt and I started feeling this burden of guilt within me. I made my way to the confession room. I swear it was a very long walk,every step I took I could see my past life, my sorrowful mom, the arguments, my temper. I knelt there in front of the priest and told him everything, every sin, the whole A-Z. I didn’t have anything to hide for it is written in Acts 1: 24: “Thou, Lord, know the hearts of all men.” I just had to call out his name and repent, as we are told in Acts 2:21: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
I felt so happy
After confession, for some reason I started fearing God. I went to the chapel to pray. I didn’t know what to pray. In fact, I didn’t know how to pray. I just sat there in front of the cross and asked: “Should I still be afraid, even though I have confessed everything?” That’s when the Lord spoke to me! He said – an inner voice literally told me – “Don’t worry child, this is just the beginning, there is a long way ahead of you filled with temptations. I will give you my strength to face them.” I jumped for joy and started dancing – never in my life had I felt so happy. I wished that those five days of SOE would never end. After the retreat was over, I didn’t want to go back home. I was afraid that I might return to my previous lifestyle. On my way back I was thinking: What’s my next step from here?” I got home, went to my room, looked in the mirror and challenged myself: “From now on, I know I will be a better person than I was in my past life”. My whole life didn’t change from there, but flipped the other way around. I had caught a wrong train in the past, now I was on the right platform waiting for the right train. I started doing charity work. I started going to church and spending more time with my family. I now realize that they are actually amazing people. My mom’s prayers were answered. She still cries and prays for me because she loves me so much. And so, I am Jerrin and that’s my encounter with Jesus and how I have started practising the Christian way of life and glorifying the Lord everywhere I go.