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When I was about 15, I came across a British trucking magazine which featured a TransCanada trucking journey. Right away, I was hooked. I knew that trucking across Canada and the US was what I wanted to do. I found my way back to Canada, went to truck driving school, got my trucking license and was off and running. I spent the next 10 years seeking out the shiniest equipment and the longest runs I could possibly find.

At first I kept my nose clean. Trucking all over Canada and the United States, I was having fun. There was no shortage of fellow drivers to learn from or hang out with. They were more than ready to show me the ropes – they knew where the cheesy, trashy bars with cheap booze in the red light districts in the major cities were. During this time, my motivation to get the load to its destination was not out of concern for doing a good job, but more importantly out of a desire for the intoxicating and promiscuous lifestyle that I was leading. I didn’t realize it, but these activities were draining me and driving me down a dead-end road.

After about four years, I began to question my purpose in life, both on a professional and personal level. Around this time, I met and befriended a fellow driver, Paul. Paul was a devoted young Christian man working for the same company and geographical area that I was at that time. He was running the same equipment and exposed to the same trucking lifestyle as I was, except he was not involved in the darker lifestyle. He managed to stay true to his beliefs and remain approachable and friendly to someone like me even though I was most definitely not living like he would have liked to see.

I learned more about Paul’s Christian beliefs and we would have great discussions about the questions I had. I already appreciated Paul as a fellow driver but I began to respect his faith in Jesus as well. One day when we had a day off, Paul invited me to church with him. I really had nothing better to do and so I agreed to go with him. I spent that Sunday morning just looking around at the service, the worship team, the congregation, and thinking to myself, “What a bunch of posers, hypocrites! How can they really believe this stuff and live it the rest of the week?”

Paul and I had another Sunday off weeks later, he invited me to church and again I agreed. But this time was different. I began to question, “How could these not people believe what they were talking and reading about?” Afterwards, Paul and I had lunch and I asked him many more questions about Jesus.

I soon began to notice billboards all over western Canada– with pictures of smiling faces and an open invitation to learn more about Jesus Christ and what Christianity could offer me. I finally wrote down the toll free number while passing by one day. A few weeks later I decided to pick up the phone and call this toll free number to see what more I could learn about what it meant to be a Christian and about Christ. I spent an hour on that phone all alone in a dank dusty warehouse talking to a phone counselor named Linda. We just talked about life and gradually I shared with her my concerns with my present and past chosen lifestyle. I shared that I had doubts about continuing in this way any longer. When Linda shared with me about her life prior to accepting Christ I knew I was talking to someone who understood. Then she asked me if I wanted to follow Christ and become a Christian. By that time there was no longer any doubt. I thought about it and decided that this was the change I wanted to make. I prayed with Linda to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. The next day I left for Toronto and all I could think about was the decision I’d made. It felt increasingly right and good. I never did go back to my previous lifestyle. The promiscuous activity stopped; the excessive drinking stopped. I truly felt saved, rescued – a brand new door had opened before me and I had no interest in the past.

My life has changed dramatically since that day. Changing does mean change for the better, for the good. It doesn’t mean a stress free life without challenges and difficulty, but it means a better life. It is a life one can be proud of, grateful for, and excited about.