The Genesis of HaHaMen Part 3: Dave's Story

This is the third installment of my story, my testimony, about what God has done in my life, and how that led up to the creation of hahahAMEN, now HaHaMen. I'll pick up where I left off from last week.​​

I changed jobs and took a job as an on-air personality for WJLS in Beckley, WV. I was hired to do mid-days on air. I came in and did a part of a shift. It felt really good to be back on the air. A week later, I was demoted and moved over to the AM side of the company. I went from a regular gig on-air on a major country station with up to 100,000, listeners to a behind-the-scenes role on an AM station with about 500 listeners, most of whom were older than my grandparents.

Cue depression and enemy attacks. Yes, once again, fuel for the case against me. The enemy used this as further proof that I was worthless, unimportant, easily replaced, and easily forgotten. Just like in my divorce. Just like in my job at Mooseheart. Just like in almost every relationship I had...Dave Ebert is always easily replaceable.

What the enemy intended for harm, God used to plant seeds, water the old, dormant seeds of my 6th grade salvation, and give me some knowledge of Him through the osmosis of working with Gospel programming.

But, the one thing the enemy didn’t count on and didn’t factor was this: this AM station was a solid Gospel station. My role was to work with the live and recorded shows, most of which were preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What the enemy intended for harm, God used to plant seeds, water the old, dormant seeds of my 6th grade salvation, and give me some knowledge of Him through the osmosis of working with Gospel programming.

As time wore on, wrestling’s anti-depressant effects were less and less potent. The feeling of never getting anywhere in life was stronger than ever. I was now 31 years old. I was divorced with no prospects of being remarried. My ex-wife was remarried 5 months after our divorce was finalized in March of 2007, and they were, and still are, happily married. So, obviously, it was me. I AM what the voices in my head have been saying.

In the fall of 2012, the war for my heart, mind, and soul came to a climax. I thought of suicide regularly. I tried to think of how to do it in such a way as to look like an accident, but also not leave a gross mess behind. I had a varicose vein on my right leg that burst one day. It bled profusely in the shower, leaving a horrid mess in the apartment when I got out not knowing what had happened. As the war waged in my mind and heart, the enemy pointed out that that could be it...let that vein flow freely whilst in the shower, immediate clean up, painless way out, looks accidental because, hey, who commits suicide in a shower with a vein on their leg? All your prayers answered, Dave...painless, easy clean up, looks accidental. This is your way out! End your pain now!

However, God was gaining ground and while the offer was tempting, God gave just enough to overcome those demons while my heart grew warmer and warmer toward Him. As 2012 became 2013, the weird idea of prayer started to become a possibility. Maybe I should read the Bible. Maybe I should see what God said. Maybe I should try this one last thing before going.

I still kept putting God off. I was, as my former pastor PJ puts it, in the Crock Pot. I was stewing and simmering, but not quite ready for dinner.

God did a few things to set the stage for my transformation.

Though it was still a dark period, and in my mind I was still thinking of suicide, God already knew the tide was turning. He already knew that my heart was on the verge of a shift. So, He allowed my truck to be broken into twice. Once right before Thanksgiving, once right before Christmas, in late 2012. Nothing was taken. The only loss was my driver’s side window both times.

My job was literally going nowhere. I was passed up for a full time job in favor of a friend of my boss, wrestling was a mess, and really had nothing going.

Here is where I literally came to the decision…do I take my life? Or do I give my life? God knew I would choose the latter, which is why He allowed Beckley, WV, to lose any and all attraction for me to want to stay. This is not to insult Beckley nor West Virginia or the great people I love dearly that are there, but this is to say that for me, in my purpose according to God’s will, Beckley, WV, was not the place for me. But, before I made that decision, I needed one…more…push.

One Saturday, as I am running late, of course, to work, on the empty street corner next to my apartment, on a block near the court house where few people actually lived, were two kids from Appalachian Bible College. Logically, there was zero reason for them to be there. Spiritually, I know it was a divine appointment. It was that one…more…push. I blew them off, told them I was a Christian and that I did not need to stop for prayer…but I knew. I knew then what I had to do. I took the tract and went about my day. That night, I started to pray.

That confirmation of what I had been thinking and feeling was God giving me that one…more…push. I started to pray, read Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life, and spend time in the Bible for the first time. I was even so brave as to attempt to read the KJV, getting so far as Numbers. So, between pursuing God and trying to spend time understanding why and who I was, Rick Warren’s book spoke to me. I had a purpose, but what?

I began to see where my life was, where I was drawn, and where I was gifted, both in natural ability and in experience. There was one clear answer. My desires to entertain and create laughter, my years in radio, my years as a PA announcer, my years as a pro wrestler, and my other stage performances all added up to someone destined for the stage. Instead of using humor to hide me, I would now use humor to reveal God’s love!

But…how? And where?

Next week, I will continue with more of my story. My story will lead right into the Genesis of HaHaMen. Thank you for reading. If you have any comments, or any of what I have written has touched you, please let me know.

God bless!

-Dave #suicide #Jesus #radio #humor #cleancomedy #wrestling