My father worked for the Central Railroad of New Jersey as a freight brakeman. He also was a man that liked to ride motorcycles back in the day.My childhood for the most part was o.k. So as my brothers and i got old enough to ride my father had bought us mini bikes and dirt bikes to ride. Dad was teaching us about being bikers. Our family for the most part was a non-Christian home. My mom had sent my brothers and i to church, where we had made our Holy communion and conformation. But after that, to live as a Christian family, that never happened. So by the age of 12, I started sniffing glue, and as time went on and i got older, i started using harder drugs. It was one night in June of 2000 in my backyard, that a very close friend that I had grown up with and had known since 6 grade, who was like a brother to me, were drinking and getting high on heroin. Little did I know but that was the last time i would see my friend alive, for we had both overdosed on heroin, and he had died. While I was in the hospital, I had decided my days of getting high were over. And when I had told my wife I was not going to use any more, she did not believe me, and why should she after 30 years of lying and sneaking behind her back. Being a man, I set out to prove to my wife that I could do this and not need any help.
My son Brad had already given his life over to the Lord Jesus Christ, and what a witness for Christ he is, for i could see the difference in his life and how God changed him. So my wife and I decided to attend church (Calvary Chapel) a few times, and originally I did not think that this is the path I was going to take, but God had a different plan, and I thank God for His plan, rather than mine, because His was so much better than anything I could have ever imagined. It was that day in April of 2004 that my wife Karen and I both went forward to receive Christ into our hearts, and I have not been the same nor have I looked back since. I knew that it was o.k.for my son and all the other Christians, but it wasn't until I asked Christ into my life that I knew I would never be the same again. I have been going to Calvary since 2004, and have been studying His word, and trying to learn more about Christ ever since. I guess because my father was into motorcycles, I also became involved in that lifestyle that promoted the use of drugs and alcohol, but I no longer wanted that lifestyle.
I still liked riding motorcycles, so I joined the Lost and Found Motorcycle Ministry, where I get to fellowship with other brothers in Christ who love the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy riding motorcycles. I also get to witness to other motorcyclists and any one else that will listen to what God has done in our lives, and also have an opportunity to speak about the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am so thankful for all God has done and is doing in my life.
My marriage, my job, and my motorcycling, have all improved, as well as my health. The opportunity that God has given me to serve Him, and have a personal relationship with Him, is beyond anything i could have imagined before I became a Christian. What the world has to offer is so shallow compared to the blessing you have as a Christian. Becoming a Christian didn't mean that I would never go through tough times, but it does mean that I have a Savior who loves me, and died for me, and who will stand by me, and who is closer than a brother watching out for me. I am not sinless, but each day with His help, I sin less. I was once lost, but now I am found. Thank God for His Mercy and Grace.
Dan Aceta