My Testimony: From Gambling to God
I had loving parents growing up. Mom taught me about God and how to pray at a young age. Dad always had time to play different sports with us and saw all our games even after long hours of work although he never had time for God. We would say, “If Dad’s not going why do we have to go?” Then many times we wouldn’t go. After years of trying to get us to go as a family, Mom stopped trying.
I was in and out of different neighborhood churches. I knew about God at an early age, but never had a personal relationship with Him. I thought about it a lot as a teenager. When I graduated high school and was away from family, I read my Bible at times, but stopped because I was living for the world.
I had a serious gambling problem for about 35 years. My grandfather taught me how to play poker at the age of five. I was instantly hooked. At first it was just for pennies, but for a five-year-old a pocket full of pennies seemed like lots of money. As I became older, we played for more money. I made bets on ball games with anyone who would. Dad told me not to bet, but I would anyways.
I could not wait to turn 21 so I could gamble in casinos. That’s when the addiction became really bad. I didn’t drink or do drugs, so I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong or hurting anyone. It sure hurt my wallet though. I was gambling anyway possible, making huge bets on sports, lottery tickets, and going to casinos. Even though I lost a lot of money I would tell myself that I could win it back next time. But that would not happen. The debt just piled up.
I lived in California and took many, many bus trips to Nevada: Las Vegas, Reno, Laughlin. I was so addicted I rode my bicycle to Table Mountain, a casino 28 miles from home, in the middle of summer in over 100-degree weather.
