 I was raised here in Pasco, Washington. As I was growing up here, I grew up in a split home. So my mom and my dad are always arguing and fighting. And there was really no attention on me and my siblings. So in the middle of all this, I kind of just started hanging out with the wrong crowd. And I was able to get out of the house with nobody really paying attention to me. So I ended up becoming involved in this gang. In this lifestyle with the drugs and kind of like trying to fit in and be a part of the scene. Because I really don't have a father figure, you know, like my dad's always gone. So these gang members that I'm being surrounded by, they become my father figure. And I see that as there are people that get respected and people that get looked up to in the school. So that's who I want to be. And so I end up becoming involved with these gangs. And at the age of 15, we get arrested and stuff. I get arrested for possession of a firearm charge. And I end up going to do some time for a minor in possession of a firearm charge. And I end up doing some time for that. When I get out, I get kicked out of school. And so it just kind of makes me get more involved in the gang because I don't have to go to school now. So I'm kind of more in the mix of all the gang stuff. And at the age of 20, I'm about to turn 21, I get arrested for a felony rioting charge and a felony possession of a firearm. And I end up having to go do a prison sentence. So a friend of mine, two friends of mine got shot. And now they're saying that now I'm starting kind of catching up on everything that's been going on. And another friend of mine got shot and got shot with a finger in his head and he survived and he was good. But, and as we're driving down Coors Street, the rival gang pulls us up right next to us. And at first I don't notice it, but I hear like someone yelling and stuff. And so I rolled down the window and I noticed that it's these guys, you know? And I have my kids in the back in the car seats and stuff. And so they're over here and one of the guys waves a gun. And I mean, I had a gun as well in the car at the time, but I didn't want to shoot or do anything because my kids were in the car. And so I told my friend, I was like, hey, just take me home. And I kind of sit there with the kids and I'm kind of panicked a little bit too because the situation could have gotten really bad. And I knew if they would have shot the car, they would have shot my kids or just the car alone. So this girl tells me that I should go to church and stuff like that. And so I go to church and I'm at the church and the message that they were preaching kind of was speaking to me like to what was going on in my situation there in that time. I wasn't a person that had a lot of patience so I want stuff to happen immediately and stuff's not happening for me. It's already been like a couple of weeks and Pastor Tony had gave me this vibe when I'm reading scriptures and all this stuff. And I was like, man, like I've been praying and nothing's really happening. I'm already looking for other alternatives to instead of just waiting, forgot to come through to like start selling drugs or something so that I could get myself back on my feet. That week I had gotten with my brother and gone to a dispensary because when I went into prison there was no dispensaries and I got out and weed was legal. So I had gone with my brother and we had been smoking dives. And now I'm here like a couple of weeks later and I know it takes more than 30 days to get clean. And my probation officer calls me and he tells me like, A, you need to come in. You were supposed to be here yesterday. And he pulls out a U.A. Cup and he tells me he goes, can you give me away? And so I was, I kind of stared at it for a little bit and I was like, oh yeah, yeah. And he tells me like, are you clean? And I don't know if he could tell that I was like nervous and I told him, I was like, oh yeah, of course. Yeah, I'm like, I'm clean. But I remember I was saying this little short prayer and I was like, God, I was like, if you're real I need you to show up like right now I need you to help me. So when he gives me the cup, I look at the cup and I'm clean like, like THC is all normal. Everything is normal. And I'm kind of like, at all a little bit I'm kind of like, oh my gosh, like I'm clean, you know? As we're driving back home and stuff my sister was a Christian and she was also trying to get me to church. And I just never really went with her. So she's listening to this radio station called Caleb. And as we're driving, there's this guy and he comes out and he's on the radio and his name's Luis Pallon. And he's talking about how in the Hebrew language there's no word for coincidence. And he was saying that that is happening is because God's ordained it that way. And that the Hebrews believed in that. And that, so the sooner that we stopped saying that it's not a coincidence or that it's luck but we started acknowledging that it's God that the more we'll see the blessings poured out upon us. And it just like, to me it just hit me and it hit me hard like God was like telling me like, no, he's like, it's not a coincidence. It's me, you know, like all this stuff that's been happening positively is me, you know? And so I'm looking out the window and I'm just kind of like lost. And so as we drive home, I turn around and look at my sister and I'm kind of emotional. Now I'm just seeing God move and like, I could just see him that he's all over me. He's kind of like pushing me to do like go to church. And he's like, I feel like he's just answering me like everything that I'm asking is just happening fast. And I get to church and the service that they're having is just, it just hits me again and God's all over me. And I just feel like emotional and they call people up and they're like, if you've never given your life to God or to Christ to come to the altar, I'm just like emotionally broken and I start crying at the altar. So I cut out like everything I cut out on other relationships, other friends and stuff like that. Like I go back and I kind of just go back into my word, go back into prayer, go back into having a relationship with God and I'm moving forward. I cut out doing tattoos because I was doing tattoos as well. And I know that that was something that God wanted me to cut out. So that was something that was hard for me because I was making good money and it was something I didn't want to let go because as a kid I was always like drawing and doing art. So I ended up cutting that out too. And I already knew that it wasn't what I wanted, that it's what God wants. And that's what brings me joy is doing what God wants. So that's what I decided to do. And that's what I'm gonna continue to decide to do as I continue forward.