Growing up I had a best friend that I did everything with. Together we played football, basketball, built forts and haunted houses, studied Judo, and even became blood brothers. When we turned fifteen, we learned about girls, love and heartbreak, with our first teenage crushes. Unfortunately, we also began to learn about some less desirable sorts of things.

Then came a point where our paths separated. I was drawn deeper into the “party” crowd, while he pulled back. I ran with an older, faster crowd, and most of my high school experience became a blur. I hadn't given much thought to my future, so after high school I didn't have a plan for my life. My choices seemed easy, though: join the army, go to work, or college. Neither the army nor starting a career appealed to me, so it was off to college where I continued my party lifestyle. I had learned that if I just showed up for classes and took notes, I could get B grades.

I wasn't an alcoholic or drug addict; I was simply doing the same thing as many other young people – looking for something to fill the emptiness in my life. It got to the point where I didn't even like the feeling of being wasted anymore. I went to parties to see my friends, but after a while, I just wanted to leave. One night as I got back to my apartment, I flipped on the TV before going to bed. A televangalist was on, and he was saying that no matter what you had done, Jesus loves you. He said that Jesus wanted to help me, that He would forgive everything I had done, and that He wanted to have a relationship with me. The preacher said that if I asked Jesus into my heart, that He could do something remarkable with my life.

I turned off the TV, and before going to sleep I lay there thinking about what the preacher had said. I felt such despair about where my life was at, that I prayed that prayer, and asked Jesus into my heart. I acknowledged and repented of my sin, and accepted Him as my personal Savior. I committed my life to Him, though I didn't even know what that might lead to at the time. I got up the next morning without really thinking about what had happened, but God sure got to work! I didn't see until much later how that simple prayer set in motion a chain of events.

A week later I was grocery shopping, and in one of the aisles, I passed a clerk with glasses and short hair. We nodded hello to each other, but there was something familiar about him that made me pause. I turned around, but he was already gone. I finished shopping and made my way back up to the front to check out. As I was paying, I noticed that out of all the checkout lanes, the guy that had seemed familiar to me was sacking groceries in my lane. While I stood there looking at him, and watching him looking at me, suddenly it clicked for both of us - it was my best friend from my childhood! We talked briefly, and I found out that he was now married, had a child, and was enrolled in Bible College.

We made plans to get together later that week to catch up on each other's lives. I had dinner with his family, and we enjoyed reliving the events of our younger days. He mentioned he was studying Tae Kwon Do with a small college club, and invited me to come to one of the classes. It had been a number of years since I took Judo, but I still had an interest in studying the martial arts. Several weeks later, I met him on the college campus, and we went down to the basement of one of the dormitories that was used as a classroom. The date was September 19th, 1980, and I can tell you the exact day because I was totally hooked! I now looked forward to each class as much as I had looked forward to going to a party to get wasted. I got to know the instructors and students, and found that these “Christians” weren't strange at all – in fact they were very warm, funny and caring people.

I looked forward to spending time with these new friends, though I felt like I had a foot in two worlds. After spending time with my martial arts friends, I had to go back to the other world of college and partying. I still went to the parties so I could see my old friends, but now I chose not to partake, for the sake of my martial arts training. Once my friends started getting wasted, everyone became uncomfortable with me being there. I would stay for a while to visit, then quietly slip out and go home once the party started to take off.

I found myself spending more and more time at Tae Kwon Do, and I began to be invited to activities outside of the Dojang as well. At the invitation of my instructor, I started attending church with him and his wife. Over time I moved up in rank, and became more and more a part of the school. I was asked to help teach classes, and remember how proud I was to be trusted with such responsibility. My instructor invited me to start weight training with him and while lifting, we had plenty of time to talk. He had loaned me a bible, and we would discuss what I had been reading.

One night we were talking about what it meant to be saved, and my instructor asked me if I had ever prayed for salvation, and asked Jesus into my heart. A wave of awe came over me as I remembered that night in my apartment the year before. All the pieces fell together, and looking at the year in retrospect, I saw how God had orchestrated every event to occur, bringing me to the point I was at now - in a Christian Martial Arts school, learning how to become a leader (though I didn't really even know it then).

Since giving my life to Christ over twenty-five years ago, God has used me in many ways. His most evident call on my life has been to teach Christian Tae Kwon Do. In doing so I find myself in a position to counsel people through many difficult situations. I try to live my life as a Christ-like example, in hopes of leading others to Him. God has entrusted me with leadership responsibility for my family, and for the staff, students, and families associated with my martial arts business.

Over the years, one thing has always amazed me. Even as a sinner, God loved me enough to keep trying to reach me. Once I accepted Him, He gave me a new life, one with a real purpose. God loves you in the very same way. It may not be an accident that you are reading this. God has a plan for your life also. If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to contact me. For more information on how to become a Christian, click here.

May God richly bless you,
Jeff Yeagley

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