I never imagined that I would enter the homosexual lifestyle after being raised in a God-fearing home and accepting Christ at age seven. However, after I graduated from college, I was so desperate to love and be loved that I didn’t care that my partner was HIV positive and hepatitis C positive.

Nonetheless, when I lost all my worldly possessions on June 8, 2002, God changed my life forever. I heard God’s voice telling me to come back to Him. I told God, “I’m yours again,” and I began to realize that His strength is made perfect in my weakness. The next morning, I found $5.00 on the sidewalk. The second I picked it up I heard God say, “I took care of the Israelities in the desert; I’ll take care of you in yours.

This was the first of many miracles that began my journey of transformation. I pursued years of professional therapy, as well as programs through Desert Stream Ministries (Cross Current and Living Waters). These tools were instrumental when it came to understanding same- sex attraction and walking in freedom from homosexuality. Although the counseling and programs never promised I would be freedom from the temptation, they provided tools to pursue a way of life using God’s design for sexuality.

Then in 2005, I began dating! I remember thinking, “Wow, God. The plumbing you designed for the opposite sex is working!” Although I dated many women, I never thought I’d find a wife because I was 34 years old and “the good ones where already taken.” That’s when I gave up my quest and told God I would focuss on His kingdom. Yet God had something better planned for me…

Six years after leaving the gay lifestyle, I met my wife, Amanda, “God’s gift from Heaven.” We were married in 2009, and five years later God blessed us with our daughter, Aliah, whose name in Hebrew means “ascending to God.” In September 2016, Amanda gave birth to our son, Ryker, whose name means “strong leader,” and in 2018, we found out we were pregnant with our third child, Asher Elizabeth, was born — and I couldn’t be more blessed.

I love being a husband and “Daddy” to our three children and am no longer desperate to love and be loved.

Jim’s Book, Not a Mistake: notamistake.com