by Tyler Horvath-Stange, CVC Attender
My story most began in the winter of 1999. My family moved from Euclid, Ohio to be closer to my aging grandparents and I was seven years old. Being as young as I was, there was little to no spiritual upbringing at that time. We went to church from time to time but nothing substantial. It was that year that my family started attending Cuyahoga Valley Church, when we met at Brecksville High School for worship services.
We became regular attenders. I was involved in Sunday school until I was about 12 years old. I was involved in the youth ministries and attended a small group on Wednesday nights. While just starting middle school, my life circumstances started to change.
At school, I made new friends and we began down a road of partying, drugs, girls, etc. I was young and reckless. Because those years shape and form the person I would become, the lifestyle just escalated through high school and my young adult years.
I knew about God but I was living a lifestyle completely opposite of Christ’s teachings. My relationship with my family was suffering because of my poor choices. I just didn’t care. I just wanted to party. Period. I was anchored in that path for about 9 years.
When I turned 21, the enchantment of my lifestyle began to dull and my feelings where changing. The formula was set for what the world says provides happiness. But I was miserable.
I knew that something substantial was missing from my life. I knew that because the Lord was using the Holy Spirit to reveal these desires to me.
I finally reached an all-time low. I knew for sure that I was empty inside because the Lord was not in my life. The things I learned as a child in church began to connect with my current situation. Until one night I knelt on my bed and said to God:
“I don’t care what happens, I just want to get to know you.”
The Lord was giving me a tap on my shoulder. I was still doing the things I would do. I would be using and would hear a whisper on my heart saying: “you can’t do this if you want to get to know me.” To which my thought was: “What do you mean? I love doing this.” This continued until I knew it was the Lord calling me and not just my minds crazy wonderings.
It was time for me to wake up.
It will be two years in November since the Lord invited me into a relationship with him. Two years of sobriety. Two year of repentance. A complete renewing of my mind. A two year crash course with the Holy Spirit on how to be a Godly man. I could not get enough of the Lord into my life. Church, Bible studies, books, Scripture, sermons, being discipled one on one.
The Holy Spirit woke me up and I am now a completely new man, a child of God. The fire is still there. It is just a matter of keeping it burning.
