My name is Joe Dobrowolski, and I live outside of Atlanta, GA. I spent most of my adult life as a liar, a cheat, a thief, and a failure as a businessman, a husband, and a father. With that description of my past life, my story starts in 2008 when I hit rock bottom on the morning of July 4th. I knew something was wrong, but I was unsure what was happening. I looked in a mirror and shouted, "God help me, I can't live this way anymore.”  I stood there and cried because I had so many regrets that flashed before my eyes and in my mind.

 

I knew that something had to change. I was a lost soul and did not know what to do but to turn it all over to God.  As I have discovered, God has a plan for all of us, even me. One day, the Holy Spirit sent me an angel named Jessica into my life. We met online on E Harmony.  After many emails back and forth, we started going out.

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We discovered that we both enjoyed hiking in the mountains. As we were hiking on a sunny fall day, Jessica opened up and shared with me that she had feelings that she needed to go back to church and learn about Jesus as an adult without the guilt she was taught as a child. Neither one of us had been in church for a long time. As she shared this with me, I thought she was testing me to see if I would stop seeing her. We walked for a while, and I turned to her and asked, “If this church thing is something important to you, can we do it together? I had no idea where the words came from or how my life was about to change.” I like to call it “The Start of Our Adventure.”

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We went “church shopping” and found a United Methodist church that we liked and started to attend. Before we knew it, we were going to a Sunday school class, and that is when we discovered Disciple classes.

As we completed the Disciple 1 class, I was asked to be on the Trustees Committee, then the Financial Committee, and then, as most of us know—the list goes on. I became the Lay Leader and the district director of the Lay Servant Ministry.

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Jessica and I were married on October 15th, 2011. It has been a wonderful adventure for the last 12 years. On New Year's Eve, 2011, as we drove into Atlanta for dinner with friends, I had my first sign from the Holy Spirit. I heard a voice from the car's back seat telling me that I needed to Teach and Preach. It was as clear as if someone were sitting in the back of the car. Jessica asked what was wrong as the tears rolled down my face. I had a warm, peaceful feeling come over me.

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This was the start of following the Holy Spirit's call on my heart. After many meetings, interviews, and ups and downs, I was blessed to be appointed as a

Part-Time Licensed Pastor in the North Georga Conference of the United Methodist Church. I served as a Licensed Pastor at a small church in Marrietta, GA., for the last six years, and in July 2023, I retired.

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Today, Jessica and I are discerning the next phase of this unbelievable adventure that neither of us ever thought would happen.

I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit and how transformation can happen to anyone and maybe someday to everyone. It happened to Jessica and me as we discovered the Love, Peace, and Forgiveness that believing in Jesus offers everyone.

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