Life Above Reproach

By: Alex Trujillo

As a child, I was raised in the Catholic Church until my parents divorced.  After the divorce, I went to several different churches with friends growing up.  I believed in God and knew that He loved me even though I didn’t really have a relationship with Him.  Then at the age of 13, my mom was killed in a car accident.  My entire life fell apart.  I blamed God because I couldn’t believe that a loving God would take my mom from me.  I started using drugs and drinking alcohol to deal with the pain and the whole time I was mad at God.  My life was out of control and I lived that way for the next twenty years.

Then God started using people to get my attention.  My dad was dating a Christian woman and believe me, my dad is not a Christian.  His girlfriend, who is now his wife, would invite me and my girlfriend, who is now my wife, to go to church with them.  I told her no at least 25 to 50 times.  Next, I woke up in the morning after a night of partying and I was hung-over.  I turned on the TV and was looking for something to watch.  I stopped on a channel where this guy named John Hagee was preaching.  As I listened to him, I felt like he was speaking directly to me.  Everything he said was exactly how I was living my life.  I didn’t like the way it made me feel and wanted to know more about God.  I called my dad’s girlfriend and asked her if she was going to church because I wanted to go.  She was excited and my girlfriend and I met her and my dad there.

After going to church for a couple of months, I was no longer mad at God.  I understood that it wasn’t His fault and I gave my life to Him and was baptized.  God delivered me from my addiction to drugs and alcohol.  Life was good being clean and sober.  I married the love of my life; and now, I had a blended family.  Our entire family was involved in church activities throughout the week and the kids loved it.  Again, life was good for the next two years.

Now the sad part!  I started to believe that I didn’t need God as much as I did before because things had been good for so long.  If something fun was happening on the weekend, I would skip church.  Next, I started drinking and using drugs again.  My family would rarely go to church anymore, and this went on for the next eight years.  My drinking got worse.  On October 12, 2008 while driving under the influence, I struck and killed someone.  On that day I changed the lives of two families forever because I walked away from the path God put me on.  The judge gave me a life sentence because of my crime.

Finally, while in jail, my wife sent me a study Bible and I gave my life entirely to God again.  It has been 10 years now and my relationship with God and my family is better than it has ever been.  Not only have I been sober my entire incarceration, but I have also become a certified drug and alcohol counselor so I can help others with the disease of addiction.

God has poured His favor upon me and has blessed me more than words could ever express.  Believe me when I say this, I would rather be here in prison with Jesus than anywhere else without Him.

– Thank you Jesus –