Introduction

I'm stranded alone on the side of a highway.  I don't know what's going to happen to me or how I got here.  All I know is that I did something terribly wrong and made a serious misjudgment.  I yearn for a second chance, for an opportunity to start over.  But how?

Hi, my name is Shane and I'm a pretty easy-going person.  On the outside I'm funny, outgoing, and adventurous.  I like to stay busy and keep my life moving 100 mph.  But there's a side to me that not everybody has the opportunity to see.  There's a part of me that burns for love, compassion, generosity, and mercy.  One may argue I display many of those qualities on a routine basis freely.  However, I feel that I do not exhibit them enough.

I'm a Christian and I've been a believer in Jesus Christ for as long as I can remember.  Raised a Roman Catholic, I made my Confirmation and continued on living my life.  It was up to me from that moment on to go to church, say my prayers, and hope for the best.  But like most young people, I wasn't going to invest my time in "religion."  It was boring and while it made sense to me that good was better than evil, I just figured I'd be better off focusing on school, work, and enjoying my youth.  Little did I realize how important my faith would become to me.

Let's take a step back in time.  One year ago I began attending I Am's Temple church on a regular basis.  My mother had become a devout Christian and my uncle is one of the church's pastors.  My uncle and I had always conversed about Jesus and "religion" since I was 13 years old.  That's one of the ways I stayed interested in God.  Last winter, I met up with him and had a Bible study which helped open my eyes to a lot of the unanswered questions I had.

To make a long story short, developing my faith in God and understanding the Bible has helped me improve my life drastically.  I went from feeling lost and unsatisfied to becoming replenished with enthusiasm for everything, even the smallest of things like mopping the approaches at my bowling alley job.  Overall, God has been one of the greatest, if not, the greatest thing to ever happen to me.  He has enabled me to build confidence in myself and learn to appreciate everything that I have, no matter how small.

In short, I feel complete. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." -Psalm 23, Verse 1.