As I mentioned, I have a twin brother. We are identical. He got saved at the age of 5, and I didn't. I grew up angry and bitter, and he didn't. He can remember breakfasts as a family before Dad went to 2nd shift, and I can't. I hated my life, and he didn't.

I was the typical brainiac with a photographic memory. I was extremely shy, introverted, and misunderstood. Sure, I got straight A's, but that's just because school was so easy. Talking to the other kids was the hard part. I was very nerdy. I read books all the time. ALL the time. Over a single weekend, I would read 4 or 5 paperbacks. And that was every weekend. (Many weekends would start with an allergy shot on Saturday morning, and a swollen arm Saturday night. Life stinks for a kid who can't play on Saturdays! So I read a lot.)

I started reading fiction/fantasy books, and comic books. Then I started fantasizing about being the characters. My life turned more and more inward. [Philippians 4 says "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, ... think on these things." I wish I'd known then what I know now.]

I eventually started reading more and more about pyramids, ESP, and the paranormal. I read through the entire encyclopedia set titled, "Man, Myth, and Magic." I longed for the paranormal, spiritual life. I didn't know that the Devil was hard at work on me. The anger, bitterness, and hatred filled me...but I hid it. I was a 'good' kid as far as the world was concerned, but on the inside I was more and more lost.

More on that next time.