by Armando Aguinaga
Hello my name is Armando Aguinaga and this is my story.
I was raised in a home were drugs and abuse was present, my father was abusive to my mother and was never really home. He was a drug addict and he cheated on my mom many times. My mom was left at home raising six of us on welfare and selling drugs – our home got raided many times. My father chose to molest me and he then passed away when I was seven years of age. They buried him on my mom’s birthday. His death was very hard for me; I had such mixed emotions for him.
We bounced from home to home. There was also a time were we four boys separated from my mom and my sisters and went to live with my uncles for a few months. They were drunks and had prostitutes at their home, even once did things in front of us during that time we lived there. That house was very old and we took showers in an old fashion sink that was huge. We used the bathroom in a bucket and even ate at a place that fed the homeless. My mom then came to pick us up after a few months; once again the drug selling was still present in the home. We got raided by the cops just about every month. And one of my moms friend that was living with us at the time decided to molest me.At the age of nine I had suicidal thoughts, I was smoking cigarettes and marijuana, I was depressed at such a young age, I was always singled out by my brothers and sisters, they always were mean to me verbally and physically abusive at times. During that time a man attempted to kidnap me, thank God I got away. At the age of twelve I began to use crank, cocaine, shrooms, pop pills – any thing I could get my hands on I used! I also began to drink a lot. This drug use turned into an eleven year addiction that completely took over my life to the point of being homeless; sleeping in an abandoned house – out in the street I’ve panhandled and even stole food because of being hungry. I also began to practice witch craft at one point. I also was very promiscuous. I’ve been arrested, been stabbed three times, shot at due to my addiction. I was a mess. I tried to kill myself by taking pills. I also began to smoke heroin. I have had to slap family members out from overdosing on heroin many times. Life was very hard, and one day after walking all night long around this town which was about 40 miles away from my home town I woke up behind a sign and found my way to the freeway. As I walked down the freeway my face filled with tears, contemplating suicide, I cried out to God to help me and minutes later I met up with a CHP officer who then was nice enough to give me a ride back to my home town and during that ride he shared with me about Jesus and lead me through the prayer of salvation.
After that had happened the next day I felt a difference in me, this new willingness to change as in before I just wanted to curl up and die. A few weeks later my sister who was always praying for me and always tried her best to be there for me talked to me about a men’s home which I agreed upon to go, then received help through this program, got involved with this ministry of victory outreach and then about a couple years later moved to Cleveland Ohio with that ministry for about two months. I then came back home to soon find myself drinking again and falling away from my faith and finding myself in an adulterous relationship with a married woman. I was so miserable during this time.
However that changed when I meet up with my friend Melissa whom I have known since I was a teenager who then invited me to church which was West Coast Believers Center and Wow! I walked into that church and immediately felt the presence and the Love of God in that place. My next visit I rededicated my life to Christ and about a year later I ended up marrying my friend Melissa. Today I am thirty years old and still fighting that good fight of faith with my wife by my side and our three beautiful daughters.
© 2011 All Rights Remain with the Author
Web: http://shawnsgivingthanksdaily.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150327530757809
No comments:
Post a Comment