I was born into a Conservative Jewish household, and while I was still just a toddler, my family moved to Northern Illinois. There I spent most of my childhood. We attended a Conservative synagogue, and both my older brother and I went to Hebrew school and became bar mitzvah at the age of 13. But oddly enough for all that, I don't ever remember a single discussion my family had about God.

The year after my bar mitzvah we moved to Kentucky, not known for being a hotbed of Jewish cultural life, and as a result I had little further practice of my Judaism. As I entered high school I began to rebel against my parents and most other authorities in my life. By the time I was a sophomore I was in full-scale rebellion. I acted very tough, and looked it too -- with long hair and a leather jacket. Inside I was scared. I hung out with the "wrong crowd", and I was soon drinking, smoking, and doing as many drugs as I could.

Through high school and college I continued to struggle with substance abuse and alcoholism, finally getting clean and sober right before graduation from college . I drifted from one thing to another, trying to find some focus for my life. I felt only confusion, rage, and turmoil inside of me. I was desperately unhappy, and in complete denial of that unhappiness.

By my mid-20's something had to change. I had been out in the workplace for several years and had just taken a new job in a new city. I felt an urge to reconnect to my Jewish roots, so I decided to find a synagogue. Not knowing the city well, I opened up the Yellow Pages to see if I could find one that I felt able to locate easily. The one I picked said in its ad, "Messianic" and " Proclaiming Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah." These things meant nothing to me at the time, but I sure had a surprise coming. Little did I know that I had just found Jesus in the Yellow Pages!

I still remember the first night at that synagogue. Imagine how shocked I was to find that I had ended up at a Messianic congregation where there were Jewish people who followed Jesus! They called him Yeshua, his Hebrew name. The people I met on that very first night were like none I had ever known before. They were so warm and welcoming. They seemed to really be happy to meet me, and they were obviously at peace within themselves. I compared this to my own inner turmoil, and I wanted what they had!

I began attending the synagogue and studying the Bible. One day I was shown some verses from Isaiah 53. The words seemed to point clearly to Yeshua. That night, for the first time ever, I got on my knees and prayed.

"God, " I asked, "can this be true? Can Yeshua be the Messiah?" I prayed for almost two weeks, and then He answered my prayer. A few days later, in November, 1997, I prayed once again, this time to receive Yeshua as my personal Savior and Lord. Glory to God for sending the Messiah of Israel, the Lamb of God who took away my sins, and gave me peace for the first time!!