A Life on the Mend and on a Mission

Recently, Michael Collins shared the incredible journey he has been on in the past few years. When asked if we might share his story here, this was his reply: "Go ahead and use my story.  I have used it as I speak to people.  I have had nine people come with me to church so far and five of them have been returning on Sundays since their first visit.  I have been talking to others at college about the church and I have four more people lined up that will be coming to church with me over the next two weeks.  One is another veteran that also suffers from PTSD, one is a college student from Dalton, GA that goes to KSU and just hasnt found a church yet and then my cousin and her husband from Holly Springs is going to be coming to visit the church because they are in search of a church to go to."

Praise God for His faithfulness in Michael's life and for Michael's willingness to share his faith with others.

Here is Michael's story in his own words:

I was brought up in the church and stopped going around 1997.  I went into the Marine Corps and my ways began to change.  Things that I saw and done changed my life in a manner that resulted in me pulling away from faith.  Then I got out and joined law enforcement and the stuff that I saw on the streets, I just could not believe that a god would let all of these things happen.  I worked a low income, drug infested area and one day two of my partners got killed on a domestic call.  One of them had taken the call for me and the other one I had worked side by side with in the patrol zone for two years.  They were married and I was single.  I got extremely angry at God and life because I could not understand why my partners had to die and I got to live.  Both of them were married with children. 

I now am in the medical field and work in the ER at Kennestone Hospital .  This spring I had a paramedic came in with an open head bleed.  When he got to the trauma room, he reminded me of one of my partners due to his head laying in a pool of blood, his hair cut and his mustache.  I started having flash backs from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).  I didn't tell anybody at the time and within two and a half weeks, I lost 12 pounds and had turned to drinking heavily.  I would wake up thinking I was covered in blood and would wake up screaming from the nightmares that I was having.  Kennestone Hospital and the staff there helped me by sending me to Ridgeview Institute twice for help with my PTSD.  I also went to a counselor and had a doctor that gave me a bunch of medicine.  It helped me get stablized and back on my feet. 

My boss told me about Northstar Church and I made my first visit in July.  I have been going every Sunday since and my life has truly been turned around.  My faith in God has been restored and my outlook on life has changed.  I no longer have the craving to consume alcohol and my need for the PTSD drugs have went away.  I no longer have any graphic nightmares and my anxiety has deminished.  I am currently attending KSU and am a psychology student.  I am reaching out to military veterans on campus that suffer from PTSD and am working with the student center to help establish awareness of PTSD and its symptoms as well as resources to help people recover from it. 

Northstar Church is the place that helped me recover and has helped me to feel like I have regained control of my life and to reidentify my mission in life.  I feel that my mission in life is to help serve and comfort others through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.