Brian Shilhavy: 40 Years Later – I’m Still Here
Anniversaries are dates etched into history. Most of them are celebrated, because the reason we remember them is that they bring back pleasant memories. These are dates such as birth dates, dates of marriage, etc. Some anniversaries are dates in history that are painful, and not worth celebrating. Yet every day is significant for one reason or another, and even in the midst of tragedy or pain, good can come of it. Today, October 28th, is a date in my past that I have never celebrated, and have seldom even mentioned to others. Yet it is a date in my past that is now known by well over a million people, because I memorialized it (without mentioning the specific date) in my personal testimony, How I Found Peace with God. It is the most important truth I have to communicate to the world, and I have linked to it from all my websites the past 17 plus years, and today it is read hundreds of times every day. It is the day in 1977 where I tried to end my life, by first overdosing on drugs, and then after being unsuccessful in doing that, by driving my car into a light pole along the side of a road at 85 mph. 40 years ago on this date I though I had control over my life, and that it was mine to end. It was not. I learned through experience that day, that God controlled my life, not me. He handed it back to me, and told me I was not done yet. In fact, I was just beginning, and he made it very clear that he had a plan and purpose for my life.
