When My Life Began

When My Life Began

J P Eddies

Published by A Break in the Darkness, 2023

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 J P Eddies

All rights reserved.

WHEN MY LIFE BEGAN

First Print, December 10, 2023

Written by J P Eddies

Cover Art by J P Eddies

ISBN 9798223519133 (eBook)

ISBN 9798223249702 (Paperback)

This book is dedicated to my wife and two boys.

I also dedicate this book, in hope and in prayer, to all the students going to college and universities. May God walk with you and call you to Himself.

Table of Contents

My Prayer for the Reader

Introduction

Underneath the Bridge

At Lunch

Everlasting Water

The Woman at the Well

Joseph’s Challenge

The Gospel According to John

The Response, Part 1

The Response, Part 2

The Next Day

Being in Community

The End to My Tale

How Did it Happen

About When My Life Began

My Prayer for the Reader

Dear gracious Father,

Thank you for guiding this book to this reader. I ask that you bless him or her with wisdom of your will for their life, and that this book may be of good use to them on their journey of seeking you. I ask that you give them the courage to continue to seek you throughout life, even through all the trials and tragedies they may have already encountered and will surely come. May they suffer along with you until you bring them peace.

I pray that you provide them opportunities to find a community of believers that can do life together with them, and that they can grow in their faith for Your glory! May you hold them when they cry out. May you guide them when they seek. And will you bless them when you are delighted in them.

I pray that you remind them, during their trials, when no one else is on their side, that you are with them every step of the way and that your Son, Jesus, already paved the way. May they be steadfast in this as your way is better.

I want to particularly pray for those who enter life as young adults, whether they go into college, trade school, or work. This transition is not easy and will be trying to his or her faith, so I ask that continue to remind them and guide them in your ways.

I pray all this in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Introduction

This is a tale of a young man that had a typical childhood in America. A sad childhood not of his own making, but because of circumstance. This young man’s name is Jacob. Jacob, like many young American’s, suffered because of the declining culture.

Jacob was not raised in a household of faith, and therefore became an agnostic like many today. In this tale about Jacob, from his perspective, you will get the unique opportunity to learn about how a troubled youth, going off to college and seeking meaning, went from being a lost man, troubled by his past, to one that chose to seek truth for his life. Many of the individuals from similar backgrounds do not seek meaning and rather conform to the culture they are surrounded by. They believe in the lies they are told and embrace them.

Jacob’s story is not unique in any stretch of the imagination. This is a common story, and for a select few this is a common ending. I hope that by you reading this story, that you too are able to come to some of the similar conclusions that Jacob is able to discover.

Many people accept today’s facts and their situations because they are told by experts that this is the way it is when in fact that is not the case. It is good to question facts. Asking questions usually always has benefits, but only if you are willing to hear alternative perspectives than what you may want to believe. After all, in a world that declares that there is no truth, how can anyone truly be an expert?

Jacob learns important lessons due to hard work, sacrifice, and a lot of faith. He also discovers that there is absolute truth in this world even if we are taught that is not the case.

If you are willing to challenge yourself in a way that will better you and allow you to discover all that there is for you, come and see what Jacob’s story is about. I promise that you will be challenged in a way that I hope allows you to find the truth you need to be set free from your past so that you can live a life that is blessed.

Jacob’s story begins in the same place that most that are seeking give up that search and allow it to go to die. But just because most discovery and truth dies there, does not mean that there isn’t some that discover truth in a lost place.

This book is geared to those who have lost faith in the world and are looking to discover the meaning of life at college and university. These places are where the experts educate on things that require just as much faith as believing in God. If you only take one thing away from this book, I pray that you keep an open mind and seek the truth with all your heart. Don’t do it only half way, but put in the full work. Don’t take my word for it, allow this story to be a guide to the real source of truth, which is the Bible.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this semi-autobiographical story about a lost young man named Jacob, who happens to be in the right place at the right time. That place alters the trajectory of his life forever.

Underneath the Bridge

Why did I go to college?

Most people go to school to get an education in hopes of getting a good job once they graduate. Some go for the party scene. Others go to learn and become enlightened, whatever it is that means.

What if I told you that going to school could be defined by one moment that may occur? Would you believe me? You would probably have a million questions on what that moment is.

I can speak to what might be for you, but what I can do is tell you what that moment is for me. Of all the moments that occurred during my four years at university, there was one moment that sticks out to me among the rest. A moment that spanned only a mere three days, yet one that fundamentally changed my life for the better. One that hit me out of nowhere. One that I never would have expected. Of course, this is not why I went to college, but was indeed the reason I went to college. More on what that means later.

So, why did I go to college?

Sure, I could say that I knew I would be more likely to get a job, but what I chose to study was irrelevant. The real reason I went to school was to help myself get away. You could even say run away. I wanted to escape the chains of my misery that was called my childhood. No, it was not all of my past that caused me this suffering. However, it was mostly my family life and the person I became because of it. I wanted a change and to become someone new. What that was, I did not know. College was a way to go explore what opportunities I could have while escaping where I was.

I chose to go to school to get away from home, and I chose this place because I knew no one else there. It was a larger, public university, but it was nothing special. It was my first step at an escape and I felt somewhat called to it.

No, I cannot tell you what that means right now, but I can only describe it as a feeling, that it was where I was supposed to be… No… more like where I needed to be.

I suppose you want to know what exactly I was running from? What from my family life and childhood could have caused me this much trauma? That will be revealed in good time as all stories are, but I’ll give you a brief summary to make sure you remain interested in the rest of my story.

I come from a broken family. My parents divorced when I was younger and it was the dominant element of my childhood. It made holidays and other important events difficult to the extent that I don’t even enjoy celebrating them today. But I don’t blame my parents for it. How could I? We do not necessarily know why people change or even fall out of love. Or at least that is what I thought.

On top of my family dynamics, I was not what one would call a socialite by any stretch of the imagination. I was a very strange child and very much a loner. I loved to learn, but hated school. It was too simple and did not challenge me. Most importantly, I was in despair most of my childhood and well into my young adulthood. It is one of those things you would need to live through to understand.

In my despair, I wrestled with the meaning of life and what my purpose in that meaning is. I was my only friend because I was the only one I trusted to be my friend. Plus, why would I want to