My name is Marcus Milbourn (though it will be Goble when I turn 18). I was born Feb. 11th 1991 in Charlotte, Michigan. We (My three simblings, Mom, Dad, and I) were poor, but my grandparents helped us out alot. My grandparents are and were Christians, and my direct family would have said we were Christians...but we weren't. I have a few memories from living in Michigan; piles of snow, pine cone fights, grandpa killing a dog,...just alot of random things that really aren't signifigant.
At age 5 we moved to Elizabethtown, KY. We were living in my aunts house old house(mainly b/c we couldn't afford our own house). My dad was a truck driver, and he was hardly ever around. He kept most of his earnings for himself so we (my direct family excluding my oldest brother Lucas [actually a half-brother] who stayed in Michigan with my grandparents) were usually flat broke. My mom had a few jobs here and there but couldn't keep a steady one. I remember being so hungry one time that I melted slices of cheese (the literal ONLY food in the house) and trying to eat it, but my body wouldn't let me. Lots of other random memories from E-town, and a few years later we moved Knoblick, KY. I guess I was 7.
Knoblick is in Metcalfe County KY. Never heard of it? Nobody has. It's in the middle of Redneck nowhere. My mom's plans were to start a grocery store, but within a year she realized we couldn't maintain it and were once again in hopeless poverty.
My second oldest half-brother Travis (I didn't know this until recently) was at this time a serious Satanist, and it was only by the grace of God he didn't get posessed or something. Sometime while we lived there he got off Satanism (though did not become a Christian) and moved to back to MI with my grandparents. To this day I cannot eat cheap hot-dogs or cheap sliced-meats without gagging b/c that was, when we did have stuff to eat, what there was. My Dad was cheating on my Mom and they got divorced. When my mom told me I, imitating my younger sister, leaned on her and pretended to cry. I really didn't care b/c I hardly ever saw him.
I had a friend, I think this was when I was nine, and one time when we were at his house he showed me a pornography and everything that goes with it and I was instantly hooked. My broher had left his pornography in KY and I found it and...sinned alot. Eventually, my Mom got a job at the hospital in Glasgow, KY, about 45 minutes away. After she became a full-time employee their, we moved to Glasgow, a city of about 14k people. Our house was small and dated in a very poor neighborhood, but atleast we usually had food and utilities here b/c my mom was working. I quickly made friends in 5th grade that I still have today and had some of the best times a child could have. Of course, I'm referring to unsinful things, b/c they like me had been exposed to pornography and everything that goes along with it.
In 6th grade I was called gay and fat ALL the time ( I was not either of them, but as a 6th grader it REALLY hurt). I hated every1 except myself (now, in a way I did hate myself b/c I had thoughts of suicide) and my freinds (I usually liked them, but every few months we'd have a giant falling out and be mad at each other for a while). Needless to say we were our own little clique. About this time and sometimes b4 (if i remember right this was actually while we lived in Knoblick) my mom would take us to different churches, and we found one we liked, Glasgow Bible Church, a non-denominational Protestant church. We went on Sunday morings for a while but eventually stopped.
However, when 7th grade started I was invited to go to the Youth Group there. I liked it, and my sister did too I guess. The Youth Pastors (their were 3) all eventually left for different reasons and Robert & Jody Leach took over the Youth Group. They (other than Sunday mornings, but as a "fake Christian" I wasn't paying attention) did the first few real (as far as for my Christian walk goes) things. I actually started to understand some of the Bible (not much yet). I invited my friends, and they came once in a while.
In Early 2004, the Youth Group attended Aquire the Fire in Nashville, TN. I don't remember alot of the details, but I gave my life to Christ (best thing that has ever happened to me) after one of Josh Mcdowell's sermons. Life became so much easier after that, although no where near easy, for now sanctification began. I soon realized pornography was not something a Christian does, so I gave it to a friend (I laugh at that looking back...Why didn't I throw it away!!?). However, all the other lustful things naughty boys do I continued doing, often wondering "Is this sin?" Like a year later someone in the youth group made fun of my sisters trench coat and she has yet to come back to church.
I continued to grow in Christ, and eventually started reading my Biblie (the first book I read was Revelation...silly me). Bob &Jody really helped me by praying with & for me, Bible study and several other things. I've attended Crossroads for the last however many summers, and it has also been a great ministry. I subtilly ministered to my friends (the same ones I made in 5th grade) and I got the pleasure of watching them one by one turn to Christ over the next years (I am in no way saying I lead them to Christ). Some of them are faithfully following Christ today, and I wonder if some of the others ever really turned to Christ.
In 8th grade grade I started playing bass guitar after Bob suggested that I did (I was a very slow learner) and I have served on my Youth Groups praise band ever since. It's been an awesome blessing and helped me to grow in Christ. Sometime around 8th grade or Freshman yearish Bob did the Every Young Man's Battle study with the young men of the youth group (Jody did the girl's study). That study made me realize how naive I was to think lust in all it's manifestations wasn't sin. So, it was then that I really started to battle my flesh. Lots of times of success and failure along the way. Recently, I have found that the only way for me to obstain from lust (not saying I don't make mistakes every now and then) is to fully depend on God, dive myself into his word, and seek him like a Young Man of Christ should do. I've also done other things to help me but this thread is not the place to talk about them.
In the summer of 2006 I went on a Missions Trip to Haiti, and I learned alot from it. Instead of typing a bunch more stuff out,I'm going to post the link to my blog about it.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... =288527792
I'm still following Christ today at 16, and I am excited about the Winter Retreat my youth group is attending in about a week. I play Tuba, Bass, and I am teaching myself how to play the Piano. When I graduate High School I'd like to attend Wheaton College in Illinois and study Biblical Archaeology and Biblical Studies.
