"Living with Purpose" Andy Caffro

 It's been awhile since the last post, 2 months to be exact. The wait was unexpected but necessary. There is currently no better time to share these testimonies than now, when my youth group is doing it's own series on the same thing. On that note, let's get into it. For those who don't know him Andy is one of the brightest people I know. (Seriously the guy knows more about science and math than half the people who teach it!) But eventually all of his smarts couldn't help him sort out life. But, I'll let Andy explain it too you.

    When I was asked to write my testimony for a blog post, I accepted with mixed feelings.  Unlike many testimonies, mine doesn’t involve a full-fledged decline into sin or a dramatic turnaround upon receiving Jesus.  I wondered if anyone could benefit from such a story, but God quickly showed me that this type of thinking was foolish.  My testimony involves a broken, miserable, purposeless young man who chose to follow Jesus and saw his life fully restored.  I struggled with numerous internal issues that are often left out of people’s testimonies – yet so many individuals can relate to these problems.  My hope is that this story reveals God’s immeasurable love and His ability to repair anything, no matter how badly broken.
    I was born in August of 1990, the only child of an electrician/Navy veteran and an elementary schoolteacher.  At age four, we moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania and have lived in the same municipality ever since.  My early childhood was filled with good memories – I played sports, was involved in scouting, and attended church with my mom.  She had been a Christian for many years and encouraged me to accept Jesus Christ as my lord and savior at the age of five.  I was Spirit-filled at a church camp years later, but I rarely prayed in tongues and failed to use the gift the way I should have.
   When I was in 3^rd grade, crews working to widen our road accidentally struck a pipeline, and our house exploded.  You can’t make this stuff up!  By the grace of God, my mom and I missed being home when it happened by ten minutes.  Although we lost everything, no one was injured or killed.  We were able to get an apartment quickly, and our insurance company paid for a bigger, nicer residence.  My parents picked the design themselves and had it built right where the original house stood.  Countless people – many of whom we didn’t even know – reached out to help us with gifts and support.  Before we knew it, we had gained back everything we lost and more.  God provided for us in every imaginable way.
   Around that time, my mom’s friend invited us to a church called Victory Christian Fellowship, located in Cranberry Township.  My mom convinced my dad, who was not a Christian at the time, to come along.  After attending one service, we knew that this was our new church home.  On the surface, my life seemed to be improving – my father had accepted Jesus and nothing in my circumstances appeared drastically wrong.  On the inside, however, trouble was brewing.
   Insecurities began to plague me – I longed for acceptance and did anything I could to win the approval of my peers.  I was consumed by worry, fear, and feelings of inadequacy.  I began to doubt my faith and allowed myself to feed on anything the world had to offer. At the time, I didn’t understand why I felt the way I did.  Now I know that my struggles were the product of a Christian walk that was lukewarm at best.  Despite a loving Christian family and regular attendance at Victory, I honestly had no interest in God and thought that I could manage just fine on my own.  As I grew older and experienced more, my outlook on life became worse.
   Pessimism, cynicism, and hopelessness enveloped me.  Self-esteem was nonexistent.  I saw no reason to live and considered suicide several times in my early teens.  My unfortunate condition was nobody’s fault but my own, and only I truly knew what I was going through.  I allowed my heart to harden to the things of God, and no achievement, experience, or blessing could bring me satisfaction.
   By age fifteen, my mental state was best described as a confusing paradox.  I loathed myself, yet was filled with pride.  At school, I developed a reputation as a selfish, discontent, arrogant jerk.  I hurt so many people during those years that it pains me to think about it.  Luckily, I have found forgiveness in Christ and have learned to bury the past.
  Although I was lost, I still considered Jesus to be my savior in my early and mid-teens.  I knew that this life had a purpose, but I hadn’t found it yet.  As I began to move up the high school ladder and participate in new activities, reality slapped me in the face.  I realized that despite my misery, life had been easy so far compared to what I was now facing.  It took a heavy workload and lots of stress to make me realize that I couldn’t possibly succeed on my own.
   On December 24^th, 2007, halfway through my junior year, I decided to rededicate my life to Christ.  My transformation was not instant, but happened very gradually.  Interestingly enough, I actually began serving on the worship team and reading my Bible before making this decision – God was preparing me for great things before I even knew it!  I started taking notes during messages, praying in tongues, and making friends with believers who built me up instead of tearing me down.  For the first time in a long time, I experienced joy.  The issues that plagued my heart and mind were slowly but surely fading away.
   Toward the end of my junior year, God gave me a revelation of His love – something I had never fully understood.  All of a sudden, I had no desire to indulge in the sinful activities that I previously experimented with.  I finally found the fulfillment, purpose, acceptance, value, and peace that I longed for.  I still missed the mark numerous times in high school, but a transformation was occurring inside of me.  As I grew spiritually, God blessed my life abundantly and enabled me to do, see, experience, and accomplish far more than ever before.  I chose to take God up on His word, and He proved Himself faithful to me time and time again.
    I still have much to learn.  In the months since graduating high school, God has hijacked my life and provided incredible opportunities for spiritual growth.  He’s preparing me be used in new ways, to maximize my potential, and to achieve my dream for His glory and for the benefit of countless lives.  Jesus has taken the limits off – I walk in His freedom every day and rely on His grace to be the man I’m called to be.  Many of my teachers and classmates wouldn’t recognize me today.  But God is no respecter of persons – what He did for me, He’ll do for you because He loves you just the same.  Nothing you’ve ever done can keep you from Him.  Jesus wants an intimate relationship with you, and if you humble yourself and yield to Him, your life can be infinitely better than you ever thought possible.

Andy's story is what I believe many people go through today, living without a purpose. If you take anything from his story make it this, the only true purpose of life is to live for the one who gave it, God. Without him, we have nothing and can accomplish nothing. I have one more testimony I want to share before putting a cap on this series, but don't consider that the end, I'll always be accepting testimonies. If you'd like to share yours e-mail me at theSuperAlbino@gmail.com.