AC180 Interviews: Josh Parks

I’ve heard this story multiple times straight from the source as well as read it a few other times and still it never fails to leave me in awe of God’s miraculous 180 power. My youth pastor used to say “we can’t determine what hand of cards we’re dealt, but it is up to us how we play those cards.” Yet, in some cases it seems God steps in and says “hey, you’ve played your hand all wrong… it’s my turn.” The honest truth is, based on the story below, there is no logical explaination for the AC180 you’re about to read; as with so many 180s, it was completely supernaturally manifested by the Holy Spirit… So grab a cup of coffee, Josh has a lot he wants to say, and it’s worth every word.

How would you characterize your life before Christ (BC)?
My parents took my brother and I to church every Sunday.  Our church had a youth group and we frequently attended youth functions.  I have always believed in God and the Bible since I can remember.  When I was 12 years old I received Christ as my Savior at a church meeting.  Through my teenage years I lost interest in church and started living for myself.  I knew that what I was doing wasn’t what God wanted for my life.  I just didn’t care anymore.  After all, it was my life and I wanted to do whatever I felt like doing.  To me, God was far off somewhere and very busy, and I knew he would be there for me when this life was over…

I grew up listening to Classic Rock and as a teenager, my dad had an acoustic guitar that I picked up and learned how to play.  I would spend hours singing and playing that guitar.  My dad also brewed his own beer when I was in high school.  He let us drink it, which we thought was pretty cool because we were too young to buy it.  My friends and I would drink and party in my backyard pretty much every night.   Drinking and smoking led to doing all sorts of other drugs.  All I cared about was sex, drugs, and rock n roll.  I hated school and dreamed of being in a band someday and just partying everyday.  My girlfriend and I would skip school and have sex and party pretty much all the time.

Explain the situation surrounding your complete 180?
Once I started using drugs my life continued to get worse.  My girlfriend got pregnant right after I graduated high school which shot my plans for college or whatever down the drain.  We lived together and had a little girl.  I had to work to take care of them while everybody else was partying and going to school, but I continued to use drugs.   Eventually, my girlfriend and I split up.  I was a single father at 18 years old.

As I mentioned above, my parents were Christians and my mother wasn’t to happy about my whole situation.  She prayed for me everyday that God would bring me back to Him and that I would quit using drugs.  One afternoon my mother told me that she would like me to have a DNA test done on my daughter to make sure I was her father.  She told me that she would pay for it and that she had already found a place we could have the test done without my ex knowing about it.  I thought this was a crazy idea because I knew my daughter was mine, but to ease my mother’s mind I agreed.  So me, my daughter, and my mother went to the DNA office and took the test.  A few days went by and I hadn’t thought to much about it.  Then one day I was at my parent’s house watching my daughter and I asked my mom if she had heard anything from the DNA office.  She replied by handing me the papers she had received in the mail the day before.   The charts read that my DNA and my daughter’s were not the same by 99.9%.

These results were staggering.

I was outraged.  I had spent the better part of two years living a lie.  My girlfriend had cheated on me and had made me believe that her daughter was mine.  My life was already screwed up from all the  drugs but this had pushed me to the brink.  I wanted to kill her.  Somehow by the grace of God my father calmed me down.

I quickly phoned my ex and told her that I had had a DNA test showing that I wasn’t the father of her child and that I was bringing her daughter back to her.  When I got there she acted like the results were incorrect and that it was untrue.  I told her that since her daughter was only 11 months old that she would forget about me because she was so young, and I could move on with my life.  I told her not to call me for anything and that if I wanted to see her daughter I would call her.

When I left her house and was driving home I wept bitterly.  It felt like I had lost a loved one, because I had.  My daughter wasn’t mine anymore.  Words can’t describe this feeling, it was awful.

After that I pretty much stayed wasted on drugs 24-7 for about two weeks trying to erase her memory.  But nothing seemed to ease the pain I felt.  Then one night after using some drugs I laid down on my bed to go to sleep.  While I laid there I started thinking about all my friends lives and my own and how screwed up they all were because we were all on drugs. I had been running from God for a while. As I laid there I felt the Lord tell me that he loved me and that he wanted to heal my heart.  He told me that he let me see what this world had to offer and showed me that if I had never left him that none of this stuff would have happened to me.  He also told me that he had delivered me from that situation because of my mother’s prayers and that he was offering me a second chance.  I had tried everything on my own to wash away the pain in my heart and was desperate for anything.  That night I cried out to Jesus to save me and deliver me from my drug addictions and to heal my heart.

What are the most glaring differences between life before Christ and now?
The following morning when I awoke I felt different.  I immediately flushed my drugs down the toilet and broke all my cigarettes.  I quit cold turkey and didn’t pick them up ever again.  The Lord removed all my addictions and cravings and replaced them with a hunger for himself.  I had spent most of my life living for myself but now I had made a decision to live for Christ no matter the cost.  The only Christian I knew was this girl named Lindsey at my work.  The Lord used her to lead me back to church and into fellowship with other believers (we later got married and now serve the Lord together).

I quickly stopped hanging out with all my drug buddies and joined the church where I surrounded myself with other Christians who helped me and encouraged me in my relationship with Jesus Christ.  I began to read the Bible and pray everyday before I left for work hoping to be used in my workplace as a witness for the Lord.  I pretty much try to take each new day as a new opportunity to share Christ with others in some way.

Another huge step in the healing process was learning how to forgive.  Once I learned how to receive forgiveness I quickly learned through the studying of the scriptures that not only are we called to receive God’s forgiveness for ourselves but we are also called to forgive others.  This was difficult but through much prayer I began to forgive my ex for what she had done to me.  After I forgave her in my heart I sensed a huge burden lifted from my shoulders and found a new level of freedom that I had never had.  As I continued to grow in Christ I felt the Spirit leading me to another step in this process.  The Lord told me to call my ex and personally tell her that I had forgiven her.  I put this off for a couple of weeks because I didn’t have the words to say and needed the Lord to give them to me.  One day I sensed that it was time so I made the phone call.  I told her that I was calling her to let her know that I had forgiven her for what she had done to me.  I shared with her that we are just people who make mistakes and that despite our mistakes God is a forgiving God.  I told her that it was because of him that I was even able to call her and forgive her.  It was a short conversation but I felt she needed to know that I had released her from the damage that had been done and hopefully I had shared the hope of Christ with her.

I can honestly say that having experienced God in this way has made a huge impact in my faith journey.  Just knowing what I have been through and experiencing the heart change and healing process has given me great strength in every situation I now endeavor.

What is the most difficult challenge you face in your journey with Christ today?
I long for consistency in my prayer and devotion time with the Lord on a daily basis.  I know the importance of this and have seen it’s rewards, yet I am perplexed at how such little trivial things seem to invade my life and suck away my time.

What is the most difficult challenge you have already overcome during your journey?
My wife and I have been called as missionaries to Ukraine. (editors note: you can follow their journey at www.parksmissions.com)  Our first sensing of this call was in 2000 on a short term mission trip there.  In 2001 we attended a missionary training school to be full time missionaries there.  There have been several set backs to this calling that have yet allowed us to actually go and fulfill it.  I believe these setbacks have been ordained for the spiritual maturing of myself and my wife.  It is now 2007 and we are nearing our departure which will be in 2008.  This has been the most challenging part of my journey, excepting the calling of God and trusting him to accomplish it.

What one piece of advice would you say is most crucial for a newly 180’d man?
With man it is impossible but with God it is possible.  No matter your situation, he is there.  When you are unable to move you must cling to the one who is able.  Keep eternity in your gaze for when this life is over only the eternal things truly matter.  What are the eternal things?  Your salvation is eternal life with the Father.  Those to whom you share this knowledge with and lead to Christ shall share in that great eternity.  Learn to see the opportunities at hand within you sphere of influence (work, family, and friends) and share the hope you have been entrusted with within that sphere.  When trials come knocking at your door learn to except them as divine intervention to lead you in the path everlasting.  Remember that Christ endured the cross for the joy set before him which was the salvation of the world.  God can take what looks like a setback to the natural man and use them for his glory to accomplish greater things than one can imagine.

My name is Josh, I’m 28, live in Garland, TX, married my wife Lindsey 7 years ago, no kids, and I’m an electrician.

If you would like your story told, please contact one of our contributors and we will be happy to share your testimony.