Bob and Joan Galasso are friends who serve in a ministry of pastoral care and counseling based in Florida. They minister primarily to pastors and missionaries in the U.S. and several foreign countries. This testimony is from someone they ministered to.]
God brought a wonderful young man named Shaun into our lives. This is his account of what God is doing in his life:
I have been a Christian for a little more than three years, and in this time I had unknowingly pursued a life in which I hunted job security, approval for my selfish desires, and assistance in fabricating my religious disguise. During October 2003, our awesome Lord and Savior took my well- planned and prepared-for future, which included corporate status and success, a safe green pasture with a mortgage, a potential beautiful wife, and 2.5 kids, and shredded the entire plan without any attempt to consult me first. Why? I was a good guy and had learned to play the game. And I played the part pretty well, I may say. Within a one-week period, I had to leave all my supports and incentives and stand up on my own legs.
“But I’m not ready. Hold on, let me prepare! Let me keep this! You don’t have to take her!” Questions like these rushed at me like a stampede of horses overcoming me. My legs were not sturdy enough to carry the weight of a life totally out of my hands and in the hands of God. I was a twisted piece of human flesh in the aftermath of the emotional hurricane until God’s incredible love, which transcends what I see, feel, or understand, brought two people into my quickly changing environment. He used them to plant seeds in a freshly cleared field of old, useless trees in preparation for the growth of a new forest of trees more sturdy than ever before. Pastor Bob and Joan Galasso are two of the most unlikely people that I, as a single man, could relate with. I mean, the calling in which they have obeyed was way beyond my comfort zone or understanding of the Christian walk. How could they understand what I was dealing with? But empathy was not their purpose.
One week prior to my move to a different state, I endured a tearful and embarrassing meeting with Bob at McDonald’s and two powerful and emotional nights at their home, including some awesome meatballs. God used them to show me that I had been pursuing the wrong life and that my Christian perspective was wrong. I began to see that my relationship with Jesus Christ was thin, more of a facade. They showed me whom I needed to focus my future plans on, and not the treasures of this world.
There is too much to write about the incredible and adventurous journey God has led me through over the past eight months, so I will end with what God has shown me as to why He took me through that time and what He has in store for me. I will soon be leaving the rigors of corporate America and entering a life on the front lines in the trenches. I have been accepted into a Christian counseling graduate program that will allow me to tell others through encouragement and experience how much Jesus Christ is in love with each one of us and that He will never leave our side, no matter how difficult and lonely the times may seem. After experiencing the tender teaching of our living and loving Father, I know this is where my heart belongs.
I, too, now want to be in the trenches alongside the Bobs and Joans who are ready and willing to fight for anyone’s heart, with no concern about status, class, or age. I love Pastor Bob and Joan Galasso with all my heart …my new wild heart!
We are thankful to God for what He has done in Shaun’s life. God has a plan and purpose for all His children. We are excited when hearts come alive in who they are in Christ Jesus and desire to follow Him, no matter what the cost.
This is an excerpt from Stones of Remembrance: God’s Extraordinary Stories through Ordinary People, by Bob and Joan Galasso. Pleasant Word, 2007, pp.135-137. Used with permission. This volume and their previous book, Leap of Faith, are available at https://www.winepressbooks.com/default.asp
Their web site is http://www.aliveinchristministries.net/