ROMANS 8:28 (KJV)
I ended up moving in with my mother, and I gave her a really tough time. By then, I was smoking, selling drugs, drinking, sexually active, and involved with gangs. Nothing could really harness me at this point. It seemed like I was allergic to school. I just stopped attending. I had gotten arrested at the age of sixteen for assault. A few months later, I was arrested twice within the same week. During all this commotion, the only thing that kept me focused was playing basketball. I started playing basketball in junior high but only for recreation. When I moved to Manhattan with my mom, I joined a team in Harlem. Even though it was a thirty minute commute to practice and games, I loved it! Ironically I was actually playing with a Christian team. The coach of the team became a true inspiration to me. Him and his wife were the people I talked to about any and everything. They knew all about the problems I was going through, and they also knew that the only resolution to my problems was Jesus Christ. I was introduced to Jesus in early February 2005. I was saved in March and baptized by April. I don’t regret my past. It took a plethora of blessings and tragedies to get me to where I am now. Sometimes I just wonder where I would be if I had continued with track. And I wonder if I would even have met the Lord?
Lissete Russell, 19, Redemption Christian Academy, Troy, NY
Everything that happens, everything
that I do can bring me closer to You, Father.
That is so incredible! Nothing is out of Your control!