Sam wanted to change, or at least that is what he told his parents. When in prison, he would have visits from his parents and a friend John Musgrove who used to teach Sam Bible verses as child.  As much has he may have wanted to change, as soon as he was released from prison, he would go back "into the Dragon's mouth".
      Drug use, violence and drive-by shootings were his recreation. Then one day he realized his girlfriend from Jr. High had never given up on him. 

      Through the years she was there, in spite of his gangbanging, drugs and prison.  
      A friend told him about Hope Now who found him a job and refreshed his mind about God, but Sam had still not surrendered. He left those jobs and kept falling.  Finally, he gave up on himself, and allowed God to work.
       Today he is married to that same girl who waited. Sam and his wife are living proof that the "The old has died and everything is new”.