David's Story

I had 20 pounds left in my pocket, I had my motorbike0I put my sleeping bag on my motorbike and I left at half past five in the morning to go find an answer0And I wasn't coming home until I found that answer0My name's David and this is my story0I grew up in Northern Ireland, born 19670And I always remember my mom saying that I was special and that somebody was looking out for me"0In my early years, me and my sister were both abused by a family friend"0And I just remember thinking, especially more my teenage years, I thought, "You know what"0Who is this God0If I'm supposed to be this special person "why has this happened to me0 Through my teens I did drugs, did glue, I did pretty much anything to try and get me away0And then I joined the army0And that kind of changed things a wee bit, I went from drugs to alcohol0And then that kind of fizzled out, I left the army and I started up my own business, became very successful0And at the time my business was, me, it's all I wanted to do it was0This was my baby, this is0And then I ended up going bankrupt0And again, I resorted to more drugs, more alcohol, to the point where I had a breakdown0I overdosed0My marriage fell apart0And I just had to do something0From that point I started getting what I call my pokes and my prods, where I'd be sitting just not thinking about anything and then all of a sudden thoughts of God, Jesus, what my life was about0A friend, a friend, I hadn't seen her for quite a few years0I didn't know that she was Christian"0I didn't know at the time that she belonged to the CMA, Christian Motorcyclists Association"0So I rocked up, she says, "Look we're going for a spin0Would you like to come with us"0 So I rocked up there"0There was 12 guys and girls with white crosses on their back and I followed this white cross the whole way down the motorway and I was just like, "Do you know what0I can feel it now, it's like, "yeah, this is what I want to be doing with my life0 For me was, the realisation that everything that had happened in my life to that point I realised that I wasn't the only person that this has ever happened to0And that's going from being abused as a child to my drug and alcohol to just, the chaotic0ness of my life0If it can happen for me it can happen for anybody0And I think, do you know, there's no one person that will not receive God's grace, do you know0But I think the hardest thing is you have to get over yourself, you have to forgive yourself