So, here’s my dirty little secret, up until recently (much more so than most people realize) I was a rabid, angry, abrasive, in-your-face agnostic/atheist. I was fed up with “religious” people, particularly from time spent in Catholic School with the typical “mean nun” experiences, and later in life I felt like if there was a God that he didn’t care about me. So, I decided I was going to not care about him. So I left. I was angry at God and I walked away, mostly screaming, yelling and just being the loud obnoxious guy I usually am when it comes to be an “anti-authority punk rock” guy. I flipped the Lord the “bird” and walked away…just like a punk kid.
For a few years I was working with highschool age students and for obvious reasons I kept those feelings “in the closet.” I take my job as a “role model” very VERY seriously and despite being angry at God, it didn’t mean I didn’t have any morals, ethics or values. So I just focused on teaching positivity and just sorta left the other stuff out. I’m pretty willing to bet, or atleast I hope, that many of them had no idea what I believed (or didn’t as was the case at the time).
Then a few months ago, right around my college graduation, I found myself questioning a lot of things that I used to believe. Somehow I kept finding more questions and less answers. Then I started hearing some very important people in my life for what seemed like the first time. Then God put Jessica (my fiance’, aka My Beautiful One) in my life. She told me things on our SECOND date that got right at the core of my person. She addressed insecurities that she had no way of knowing about. She’s very devout, full of faith and love for God. It threw me for such a loop that I told her I needed to take a break, to go and get my head straight. During that time she experienced a great deal of loss and I felt compelled to be there to give her someone to lean on. At that point I couldn’t deny that the Lord was working through her, that the Spirit was speaking to me in those moments when she was telling me things that she couldn’t possibly have known or understood the importance I placed on hearing them. Even more, the Lord was working through me to give her strength in one of her toughest moments.
She was my “guiding light” in the darkness and I was her strength in tough times. I have no doubt that she was put in my life to help lead me back to the Lord and find my purpose in this world. She and a few other close friends were the exact opposite of the people that drove me away from God. And it was those few people who helped me find my way back.
Which is why I removed my old blog and started over with this one. I am the “Prodigal Son” returned home to his Father, our Savior, the Lord. I’m doing a lot of praying for guidance since I’m certain there are a lot more kids out there in similar situations to the one I was in. And, sadly, the ratio of people like Jessica to the people who “talk the talk” better than they “walk the walk” is more than a little skewed. So, I think it’s important that someone be there to help those kids, someone who understands. So, along with this blog, I’m looking at other ways to reach out and give back. I can’t stand the thought of any more lost kids b/c of someone who gets the message all wrong. So this site is a place for a Born Again man to exorcise his demons, pray for forgiveness and try, in some small way, to use the gifts God has given me to give something back to the world even if my words only reach one set of eyes. You never know when they’ll be the eyes that need those words.
So welcome to the site of Sean R. Reid, Prodigal Son. Hello, God Bless. I hope you enjoy your stay.