Yep... I Was, A Teenage Runaway!

From a teenage runaway to an online business owner. Who would’ve ever thought?

Hey!

How was your day, today?

I was just sitting here trying to think of a way to get more traffic to my site.

What do you think about this? I wrote this song and it's sung to the tune of, "Welcome to my World"

Welcome to my site
Won't you come on in
Visitors I know
Still show up now and then
Make yourself at home
On each web page you find
Welcome to my site
Built with you in mind.

Click and a window will open
Search and Google will find
Surf and you will be given
The url to this world of mine
I'll be waiting here
With pages left to write
Waiting just for you
Welcome to my site!

So what do you think, huh?

Think it'll work?

Oh no...!

I'm sorry

please...forgive me

Hi there, my name is Tom.
I’m the one building the pages behind, ‘howtotouchgod’ and ‘BiographyMinistries’

You must be on the 'About Me' page! I didn't mean to be rude I just got caught in that stupid song up there.
Let's see, about me, well... ah, I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
I am filthy, rottin, stinkin rich. I don't have a care or a worry in the world.
Life is just ducky!

...ok, Ok. But, you don't want to hear the truth, do you?
Don't you want to hear about all the glitter and gold?
I mean, the truth is usually sad and gloomy and full of all kinds of heart-aches.

Alright, you want the truth. I don't have any gold. I don't even have a goldfish.
The last fish I had, drowned! See... I told you. It's starting to get sad already.

I didn't grow up (don't laugh, there's more to the sentence) like most people did. I was a teenage runaway. I've lived in Columbus, Ohio for most of my life but I would always take off (runaway) to Florida. There were no problems at home. I just always dreamed of having my own place and living by the ocean. And I did a couple of times but for some reason the Florida police wouldn't share in my fantasy. They would always detain me until someone would come and get me.

I guess what fueled the fire was I didn't like sports. Ohio seemed so boring. And I just wanted to be free. I wanted to be on the beach, walk down the boardwalk and listen to the roar of the waves crashing in. Right now as I write this I can hear the Seagulls (Oh, crap, that wasn't a seagull that was my dog) I accidently stepped on his paw. He always gets under my chair when I'm on the computer. Crazy dog!

Where was I? Oh yeah, I've been to Jacksonville, Daytona, Orlando, Tallahassee, Tampa, Sanford, Kissimmee (that's a cool name) and the beauiful city of West Palm Beach, all before the age of eighteen. Oh, I know it sounds glamorous and there were times it was! Especially being a teenager, out on your own. Man, who could ask for more!

But then, someone (usually the police, not the Baywatch babes) would come along and bust my bubble. I asked the police one time, "How do you guys always figure out that I'm a runaway?" They would say, "Well, you're a teenager all alone on the beach, you're whiter than white can be (most Florida residents had a nice tan) and you're swimming in the middle of winter (when you're from up North it's like summer in Florida) Plus, the plates on your car say Ohio!"

O.K. maybe I wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer. I did have some goodtimes though, while it lasted. But, all goodtimes must come to an end. It was time for me to get a reality check, a wake up call.

You see, most of the times that I ran away I would hitch-hike (it was a lot safer back then, than it is nowadays). I've even jumped on a couple of trains before (which is very dangerous). But then finally I did the most stupidest thing of all. Some friends and I took another friends parents car and before we made it to Florida we got pulled over.

Even though my friend's parents dropped the charges, the State of Ohio wanted to charge us with grand thief auto. To make a long story short our lawyers (public defenders) got the charge lowered to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and I got sent away for six months.

Did I learn my lesson? You bet I did! That took the rabbit out of my blood.

more than 1 million teenagers run away from home each year. The National Runaway Switchboard reports that 86% of runaways are between the ages of 14 to 17 and 74% are female, while 26% are male.

In some states, when a teenager runs away from home, he or she is subject to possible arrest and detainment. For a teen under arrest, a juvenile detention center is generally used instead of an adult facility. Being detained is not the same as being arrested.

Detainment can mean waiting with a law enforcement official while the runaway’s parents are contacted and arrangements are made for returning the teen home. It can also involve being taken to the police station and held there for hours or even for days as the authorities decide how to best handle the situation.

I've been through all of that! But there's more. As a teenage runaway you run into all kinds of people. There is, what I call the 7 ‘Ps’ of different people. Partyers, predators, perverts, prostitutes, pimps, police and preachers.

The reason why I brought this up is because the men and women of God where the ONLY ones you could trust. They would give you a safe place to stay. They would feed you if you were hungry. They would pray for and/or with you. They would talk to you about going back home and they would even help you, if you wanted to go back home.

I'm 47yrs. old now and I've been to Florida since my long, long ago teenage years and I love seeing their state sign, 'Welcome to the Sunshine State' but you know what? Everytime I leave I can't help but look back and think about all the different preachers I crossed paths with and all that they did for me. They did a lot! And “why?” They didn’t have to help me. What was their reason, their purpose? What were they getting out of it?

It made me stop and think, “Maybe there is a God!”

So…

…during the rest of my adult life I would pick up the Bible and I would put down the Bible. I would pray but nothing would happen. No answer and no God! I just started assuming that those preachers were a special breed and that I was to evil for God’s holiness.

until…

…the summer of 1997 my whole life was changed forever! I witnessed with my own two eyes a person talking to a Ouija board and it was answering him back. This was no hocus pocus. I know the guy personally and I saw what I saw! It was errie and it scared me (and I thought I was fearless).

“Guess what?” After seeing that, I picked the Bible back up and started seriously seeking and searching for God with all my heart and I can tell you and anyone else who is reading this that He is real too, just like that spirit that was communicating through that Ouija board.

...He will be found by you. But if you don’t seek Him He won't impose Himself on you at all whatsoever in anyway.

Well, just like that evil spirit was teaching that individual some things through the Ouija board, so also has the Holy Spirit taught me some things through the Bible.

Which brings me to my websites. I wanted to share what I’ve experienced and what I've learned from God's Word. At first I was thinking about writing a book because I didn’t know anything about building websites.

Everynight when I got off of work I would jump on the computer and try to find out everything there was to know about how to write a book, how much it would cost, things like that. I figured it would be easy. Boy, was I wrong! It was like being a rockstar, you had to have managers, promotion agents, editers, financial advisers, printing companies, bookcover designers, etc. It just seemed to hectic. So, I gave up on the Stephen King idea and started looking into websites.

While I was checking out different website packages I was introduced to SBI or SiteBuildIt. I was told that I really ought to look into SiteSell. That I didn’t need any programming skills and I didn’t have to be a computer tech and that I could also make money. I wasn't to interested in the money thing, I figured that wasn't true anyway, I just wanted a website.

As I was looking into SBI, what really caught my eye was that a 16yr. old had built a website and became very successful. That got my attention. I thought maybe I should look into this money thing, if she can do it, I can do it! Right?

So I started digging deeper into SBI and I was impressed. I just wanted a website. I just wanted to tell my story. But what I discovered was, SiteBuildIt takes what you love and helps you make a living at it. Whatever hobbie you have, whatever skill you have, whatever your passion is, whatever you like doing, SiteBuildIt helps you make a living doing it!

As I mentioned above I just wanted to share what I experienced with the Ouija board and with God. I had a whole two webpages for my website. Well, SBI taught me that Google or any other search engine won't take your website serious unless you have atleast 40 pages.

So, here I am thinking to myself, "I don't need 40 pages to explain what I've experienced, C'mon!"

Well, here comes SBI to the rescue again. They helped me come up with the idea of the T.V. ministries (Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Paula White, etc.)

I learned from SBI that content is 'King' when it comes to the internet. Surfers are looking for information. So give them what they want and they will come. Now, I have people from all over the world reading my 'whole two pages.'

...and if that weren't enough, SiteBuildIt showed me, like the 16yr. old, how to became successful. I have made $2,558.20, so far, from Adsense alone (those "Ads by Goooogle"). I also get a small commission from each book sale or CD sale that a visitor might purchase from Amazon.com that I advertise on this website.

I don't sell anything personally. I'm not a salesman. I work in a warehouse as an equipment operator. I load and unload semi-trailers, but I don't want to do that forever! Believe it or not I make money with this website (BiographyMinistries) while I'm at work or taking a shower or even sleeping, I'm serious!

With SBI the traffic grows, which causes the income to grow.I see so many SBI website owners leaving their 9 to 5 jobs and that has become my ultimate goal too!

Like I mentioned above, I’m 47yrs. old and I know of a retired couple struggling with all their bills. I mean, he gets a retirement check from Rockwell, a veterans check, a social security check, plus both of them are working. Forget all that, I'm not doing that! That’s NOT retirement!

I want to be financially secure. Now, of course being rich would be better! SiteBuildIt is not a get rich quick scheme!Actually, there is no such thing as a get-rich-quick-scheme. If there was, people wouldn't be telling US about it?

...and I'm ashamed to say that I have wasted money on some of those scams. Even after being warned... (don't tell mom).

I believe there's a Judgement Day some day and I wouldn't want to be standing in that crowd. Those who are misleading and deceiving people. But, unlike those spammers who fill our mailbox's with their spam scams!

Here's something that is real!
Something that works, something that's FREE!
WAHM-IT!, The Masters Course...

Four WAHMs, three from the United States and one from the UK, wrote this masters course to help other WAHMs build their own successful online business. It's a practical orientation by WAHMs for WAHMs.

The authors start where moms start. They realistically review potential options and then focus on the nitty-gritty of how to actually build a substantial income online, using SBI!.

The course also includes well-explained case studies, so that moms can see what other moms are doing. This type of encouragement has a huge impact as it helps moms to picture themselves owning their own businesses, too.

If you click on the book you'll be taken to the SiteBuildIt website.

Click here to read now, or right-click to download and print for later.

A mom who reads and follows WAHM-IT! will be on her way to building a real business with a growing income, one that just may become the primary family income!

This is an excellent resource and it is totally FREE!

I'll tell you what, if you've ever thought about putting your passion on your own website for fun and profit I wouldn't over-look SiteBuildIt, I'm serious! BiographyMinistries makes me money!

“Oh yeah!” one more thing 'about me.' After I graduated from high school I joined the United States Navy (my dad was so proud). I was on an aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Enterprise, a nuclear powered floating city. I would chalk and chain A7 interceptors and F14 fighters to the flight deck for refueling. Now that, was more of an adventure, than being a teenage runaway!

Dear Mom and Dad,

When you read this page (and I know you will) I just want you both to know again, how deeply sorry I am for all the heartaches I caused the both of you during my teenage years.

You are so loved, Your son,

Tom@BiographyMinistries

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