Johnathan Button Testimony:
I have lived a rough life, and been through many trials. I can look back on my life and find
many disappointments and failures. I was raised by my grandmother for the major part of my
life, and my grandmother and I were very close. However, she was diagnosed with cancer and
sent to the nursing home. I found myself thrown into an unknown environment with my parents,
and that was something that I was not used to. During this transition, I always put on a fake
smile. People never knew that there was anything wrong with me, because I lived an imaginary
life in front of them, while in actuality, chaos was going on in my life. My dad was a truck driver
over the road, and he stayed out all week long. My mother was also hardly ever home, because
she was a drunk. At around ten years old I had to become the adult and watch my little brother
and sister. I had the responsibility of not allowing anything to happen to them, and also help keep
my mom safe once she got home. Eventually the situation got so bad that I had to go live with
my aunt. At first, I was the only one, but then my little brother and sister came to live with us
also. During this time I became a member of a local church. This was where I received the
knowledge that I would need in my later years in order to come into the church. People might
think that the words they speak don’t get through to people, but I am evidence that that is not
always true.
I later got out of church and went to live with my dad. I was one of the worst people that you
could have ever met. I had several friends, but I was a back stabber and a liar. I lied all of the
time, about myself and other people. At one point, I can remember wondering if I would ever be
able to stop lying. I also had a very bad mouth. I would curse and say perverted things in front of
my friends, and I mostly did it, because I thought that it was cool. There were several different
times that the Lord kept his hand upon me during this time. I was almost in several different
accidents and I was also very overweight and had medical problems that I mostly kept to myself.
If I had of died in that state, I would have busted Hell wide open, but the Lord spared me from
that. One day the Lord called me out of what I was in and brought me into the life that He
wanted me to live. I can still remember the day that He called me. I was on my way to Wal-Mart
with my dad. I loved to spend money and my dad and me would often not go to church and go
shopping instead. We were traveling from Waverly to Dickson, and as I was setting in the car, a
feeling came over me and I felt a strong need to get to church. I knew that I needed to get back
into church fast. Since I had previous knowledge of church in my younger years, I knew what I
needed to do and I did it. I pretty much told my dad to turn on a road and get to Erin. It was a
feeling that I had never had; it was God calling me. Since that day, my whole life has turned
around. I don’t have to lie to cover up the bad in my life anymore. I was baptized in Jesus name
and I buried my old man. It took me almost two years to receive the Holy Ghost, and Satan
came against me several times in my journey to receiving the Holy Ghost , but I got it. It is the
best thing that has ever happened to me. Even though I am living for God now, I still go through
many battles and I have to keep my guard up daily, but one day, if I can just hold on and
continue in the faith, I will get to see Jesus in peace and live with him forever.