My Testimony (as given at my baptism 11/2006) 
By Scott Zambelli


My name is Scott Zambelli and today is the first day of the rest of my life!

I was born in 1973 in Springfield Massachusettes and raised in a loving family that was made up of my mother, father, and younger sister.  My childhood was pretty typical.  Our family would attend church on Sundays, but outside of that...and Sunday school...church was a place I was dragged to.  Church seemed to be some sort of family obligation each of us had, but not a place to experience God.  It was more like we were going to watch a documentary each weekend to hear someone tell us about some events long ago.  So, we went through all the motions and were good Christian by attending weekly masses, but never brought God home with us or invited Him into our lives. We eventually stopped the whole routine when we moved to New Hampshire - away from family.

Life was moving along pretty well. That is until the beginning of 10th grade. During this year, I started to experience excruciating pains in my joints. It got so bad, that I couldn’t even walk up the stairs at night to get to my bedroom. I would have to rely on my Dad to carry me up. My joints would hurt all night, even while I would lay still.

Each day at school, however, I refused to let anyone see my pain. I forced myself to use the stairs, even though I had a pass to use the elevator. I was determined that I could force myself through this. You see, I had been looking forward to joining the high school wrestling team that year. I had been lifting weights for the past two years in anticipation of this. I figured that if no one knew about my pains, I could force myself through this and make it on the team.

After going to many doctors, I was finally diagnosed with Lupus. And as luck would have it, this was on my 15th birthday! This was a blow to me. I was told that there was no way I was going to wrestle. I was so angry! This was SO not fair!

I was determined to keep this quiet at school. I didn’t want others to know that I was weak. I would get through this without anyone knowing. This didn’t last long. On my first day back to school, a friend came up to me and told me how sorry they were about my condition. This was like a punch to the stomach. I was so stunned. “How do you know?”, I asked.

He replied, “They announced it at my church. We all prayed for you.”

At that moment, a fire burned so hot within me. Many angry thoughts went through my head. Who were they to reveal my weakness to everyone? Who asked them to pray for me? I don’t need their useless prayers! I don’t need their pity!

From that moment on, I had someone to blame for my illness, and that someone was God. Unfortunately, my upbringing had armed me with just enough religious knowledge to be a danger to myself. With no foundation to rest upon, my anger overwhelmed me and I chose to face my illness alone. Whether it was my chemotherapy, kidney biopsies, or enduring the pains of a flare-up, I was determined not to allow God to help me.

Until now.

The amazing thing I’ve come to learn is the full depth of God’s love. Over the years, He stayed beside me. Just like the footprints in the sand, He was carrying me. I would look down and see one set of prints and ignorantly proclaim, “See! I can do this myself. Who needs God?”

Who did? I did.

God was always faithful to me, no matter how insulting I was to Him. He provided me with faithful, God-Loving friends who patiently put up with me, debated with me, and always loved me through thick and thin.
Over the last year, my understanding, faith, and love of Christ has taken hold within me. I have come to understand that Jesus’ sacrifice was for me. Many different people and events led to this development, but the final step I took that brought me to God was finding Rockpointe. This is my home. This is my true place of birth.

Since finding God and accepting Jesus as my savior, my life has become so beautiful. My love for my wife and daughter has been taken to a higher level. I find myself feeling at peace, even when things around me maybe hectic, and I have gone back to old grudges and repaired those relationships.

Recently, on a day when I fully accepted Jesus in my heart, someone asked me if everything was okay. The emotion that welled up within me made it very hard to fight back the tears. This is because…for the first time in my life…I can honestly answer, “Yes. Everything is okay.”

God bless.