Getting out of the military in 2023 was the biggest life decision I had made in a long time. This decision not only affected me, but also my family, my wife and two children at the time. This was where my foundation with Jesus was laid. I grew up knowing the name of Jesus. I went to church sometimes, I had a Bible, and I claimed Christianity on documents, but I didn’t live it.

The plans I had for my life after the military were destroyed by a single event, and it set me back so far. I had only about one to two more months until my last paycheck. I was fervently searching for jobs that would suffice, but nothing came through. For the longest time, I had been suggesting to my wife that we should start reading our Bible, and one day we finally did. We set aside time each day to read, starting with Genesis, and tried our best not to miss a day. We were hooked.

This happened simultaneously while I was searching for work and running out of funds to provide for my family. It got to a point where it seemed like no job would hire me, except one. A job that required me to travel overseas. I spent our last $300 on an expedited passport. I prayed that the Lord would make this job work. I also got a temporary job working for a company, but it didn’t produce nearly enough money to provide for my family. We were literally living on a prayer, barely getting by, sometimes not knowing where our next meal would come from or how we were going to pay rent.

Through all the struggle, one thing we did not neglect was reading the Word and praying. There was a time when we couldn’t afford to pay for Wi-Fi or our phone bill, so we couldn’t be on social media. I guess you could call it a forced fast from the socials. When we finally got back online, something had changed. Our appetite was different. We no longer liked the same music we used to listen to. We became super sensitive to cursing. No more alcohol. A lot of things we once enjoyed, suddenly, we didn’t anymore.

One day, I missed work at my temp job simply because I didn’t feel like going, to be honest. That same night, I got a notification saying, “Thank you for your payment.” I thought, “How did I pay something when I’m broke?” I checked my account, and there was a large amount of money that had been deposited that day. Nothing but the Lord!

The very next day, I tried to scan into work, but my card wasn’t working. I logged into the system and found out I had been terminated, without notice.

Now we were in the beginning of May. I still hadn’t started the overseas job I got the passport for. Training was still over a month away. But this was the moment I knew God was real and that He loves those who earnestly seek Him.

This is when I realized I had to take my walk with Christ even more seriously. Because if He could bring me through a storm and make it feel like I never even got wet, what more could He do?

Jesus isn’t just a name. He’s our Savior. He has remained constant, both when I was low and when He brought me into a place of green pastures.

He’s been too good.