Hi, I'm Dave. I was born and raised in California. Raised in a biker gang. Like "Sons of Anarchy" only with more blood and sex and child abuse. When I was growing up I thought I was living in hell. Literally. My mind was convinced that hell wasn't a fiery place. That hell was the life I was living and the abuse I had endured. That in my past life I must have been so horrible that I was born into this biker gang with psychotic parents and abusive people surrounding me. I literally believed this. My mother left me for many other men when I was very young. So, my dad got stuck with me. His little "Waste of air." as he called me. He started a new family and they needed room for their lives so my dad stuck me in a little area in a detached garage. There was no bathroom or water or anything. It was hot and lonely. It was also in a dark alley that was often filled with criminal activity. They would often lock me out. Basically I had to fend for myself my entire childhood. Often my dad was in prison. He always told me I should kill myself.
I got involved in drugs and alcohol at a very young age. I think they thought it was funny to give them to me. I ended up joining a gang filled with people who had also given up on life. A violent Mexican street gang. I became very bitter and mistrusting of everyone. I was beaten and show. Bullets from gunfights whizzing past my head. Friends died. Friends betrayed me. I tried to kill the pain. I didn't care if I lived or died. Most of the time growing up I wanted to die. I had literally never felt what it was to be loved. Ever.
One morning, I woke up in jail and looked over at my bunkmate and said: "Mornin' dad." He told me that by brother sent a kite to us from another cellblock further down the line. At that moment I thought "Is this my life?" "Is this real?" Maybe it was me "hitting rock bottom" or maybe it was the fact that I was sober and drug free for the first day in years but I thought to myself: "This has to change." I was recovering from a gunshot wound at the time so my life was pretty much a wreck.
When I got out of jail I was homeless. I struggled with the temptations of my old life. Especially on those nights when I slept in the alleyways and fell asleep hungry. But I knew I had to change. I couldn't go back to that life.
This is the part of the story where I have to skip details due to time and length of this so basically what happened was I found myself living in the desert. The Lord found me there and I was born-again. My life is so much better now. I struggle with health issues but as long as I have the Lord I will rejoice.
Well, that's it folks. Me summed up in a few paragraphs. I try to bring goodness into this world to balance out all the horrible things that are being done. I take every chance I get even if it's as little as smiling at someone who looks grumpy. Things like that. Be good to eachother people. There's enough bad in the world. Let's fight it with kindness and love. Compassion and understanding.
I got involved in drugs and alcohol at a very young age. I think they thought it was funny to give them to me. I ended up joining a gang filled with people who had also given up on life. A violent Mexican street gang. I became very bitter and mistrusting of everyone. I was beaten and show. Bullets from gunfights whizzing past my head. Friends died. Friends betrayed me. I tried to kill the pain. I didn't care if I lived or died. Most of the time growing up I wanted to die. I had literally never felt what it was to be loved. Ever.
One morning, I woke up in jail and looked over at my bunkmate and said: "Mornin' dad." He told me that by brother sent a kite to us from another cellblock further down the line. At that moment I thought "Is this my life?" "Is this real?" Maybe it was me "hitting rock bottom" or maybe it was the fact that I was sober and drug free for the first day in years but I thought to myself: "This has to change." I was recovering from a gunshot wound at the time so my life was pretty much a wreck.
When I got out of jail I was homeless. I struggled with the temptations of my old life. Especially on those nights when I slept in the alleyways and fell asleep hungry. But I knew I had to change. I couldn't go back to that life.
This is the part of the story where I have to skip details due to time and length of this so basically what happened was I found myself living in the desert. The Lord found me there and I was born-again. My life is so much better now. I struggle with health issues but as long as I have the Lord I will rejoice.
Well, that's it folks. Me summed up in a few paragraphs. I try to bring goodness into this world to balance out all the horrible things that are being done. I take every chance I get even if it's as little as smiling at someone who looks grumpy. Things like that. Be good to eachother people. There's enough bad in the world. Let's fight it with kindness and love. Compassion and understanding.
