I wasn't raised in the truth, but I was raised "around" it. My grandama and my cousins and most of their parents on my mom's side have always been Witnesses, and my mom was raised in the truth, too. (Long story there....basically, she became inactive when she married my dad.) Anyways, my parents got divorced when I was 10, and a few years later, my mom decided we all needed some spirituality in our lives. She got in contact with the Witnesses in our area, and my brother and I started studying again, and my mom did what she needed to, in order to get back on track spiritually. Both my mom and my brother took to the truth right away, and progressed quickly. I, on the other hand, was very wishy-washy. I knew the information, and knew it was the truth, but I didn't want to do anything about it at the time. I was 14, a Freshman in high school, and religion was not "my thing" at the time. I studied with 2 different sisters during my teens, and I never really finished studying with either of them. A few months before I turned 18, I stopped going to meetings altogether. As soon as I was 18, I started going with my worldly friends to clubs, hanging around with not-so-great association, and putting myself in multiple dangerous situations for a young girl to be in.
About two months after I turned 18, I discovered I was pregnant. This was a devastating shock to me, and I was scared to death to tell my mom, who I was constantly fighting with at the time, due to my rebellious behavior. The biological father didn't want anything to do with me or the baby, and he did his best to stay out of the picture. Thankfully, my entire family was very supportive, as were a lot of the friends in the hall. I knew that the life I had been leading wasn't ideal, adn it was very damaging to my health. After all, I couldn't be selfish anymore....I now had another life to think about before my own. I started studying again when I was a few months pregnant, and I really took it seriously this time. I was at every meeting, and I went out in service regularly, too. My son Tyler was born on July 13th of 1999, and I was baptized almost one year later, on July 1st, 2000.
Since then, I've made what I consider to be great progress in the truth. I got married January 4th, 2003, to a very spiritual brother who was raised in the truth, and who I had known since I was 14, and he loves me and my son very much. He loves my son so much, actually, that he officially adopted him this past winter. I feel so fortunate to have this "second chance" at a good life. I have come to feel very close to Jehovah, and I am thankful every day that I was given the opportunity to become his friend. I am also thankful that my son loves Jehovah, and makes every effort he can to please Jehovah.
I truly believe that, even though it wasn't the most ideal situation at the time, having my son saved my life. It helped me to realize the life I had been leading was going to eventually hurt me, and he gave me the incentive to stop. And because of that, I was able to focus on the important things, like developing a relationship with Jehovah. I can't express enough how much my situation has allowed me to really appreciate the things our wonderful Creator does for us, and how much he loves us and is there for us. I took for granted the opportunity I had as a young teenager, to show that appreciation. I am just glad that I had this second chance.