Where do we begin? How about a brief history, a testimonial, of J. Scott A.? I grew up in South - South Texas (further South than San Antonio) in a home that was not consistently religious until I was about 11 or 12 years old. I walked the aisle at 7 and was baptized but believe I had no True understanding of what it was I was doing. for the longest time my father was not the spiritual leader of our home and that made for conflicting ideas of what it meant to be a man.
I was a "good boy" out of fear and ultimately legalism in a southern baptist church during high school but once away from that control went toward my nature. I was able to stay at Texas A&M for four years while participating in the Corps of Cadets and all that goes with that. I failed at my initial goal to become a Navy pilot and ultimately left before they could kick me out after a horrid final semester. The summer after leaving A&M I started serving on active duty for two years as an enlisted member of the US Naval Reserves stationed in Pensacola, Fl.. At that time I pursued the flesh and through drunkenness and sexual sin found a woman I married. I moved back to North Texas because UNT was the only school that would accept me in my current GPA state. My marriage lasted another two years and ended in divorce.
I was at my lowest in terms of distance from the Lord I knew of but had no trust in. It was during this time that the Lord put people in my life that opened my eyes to the one thing I had wanted to discredit. Faith was the furthest thing from reality to me. I wanted nothing more than to prove that I was OK in my sin because I didn't have anything that resembled this trust. the Lord kept pushing at my arguments of validity and purpose of the written Word. I was invited by Pete Buckwald to attend Denton Bible and hear truth. He brought me books to substantiate his position, but the thing that really got me was his trust in the Lord that all things worked for His good. There was faith right in front of me. I still did not get it though, but instead of wanting to validate my position I wanted it. Things started to change, a couple things changed that I can only attribute to the Lord opening my eyes to who he is. the first is how he removed weed & alcohol from my life. It literally was like a switch was turned off. I poured everything down the drain one day and have not taken a smoke or drink since. Though the interest in alcohol is there I no longer have the overwhelming desire to go to drink or drugs for escape or comfort. the other thing he did was give me a desire to know Him. I wanted to hear the truth again. I wanted to go to church and hear teaching. This desire was not overwhelming but it was present where there had been none before. In this new found life I started my final semester at UNT and had plans to go back home to South Texas to complete my student teaching. instead the Lord brought a wonderful woman into my life and at the same time gave me opportunity to go to work as a coach and teacher at a small North Texas school (Callisburg). I had met her in April, dated and eventually asked for the hand of Amanda Perry in December of 1995. We were married July 20th 1996 and have been growing together ever since. We were blessed with our first child in August of 2000 when Henry was born 3 months premature. It was here that the Lord showed me what the gift of Faith really is. We were able to bring Henry home just after Thanksgiving and have been blessed with two other biological boys and in the last two years a daughter and son through foster care and adoption. I am blessed to labor with a church staff (The Village Church) that is biblically sound and have done so for almost 4 years now. This has provided so many unexpected blessings. I get to spend an extra 500 hours a year with my children that I was losing to a long commute to my previous employer. there are too many things to list here. We are blessed with so many things that we realize we have taken for granted in the past. We hope this would somehow help bring you closer to understanding and relying on the Lord but ultimately he is the only one who can do that. Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him!
