Come to Yourself
Author: Audrina Jones Bunton

The bible illustrates a story about a man who had two sons. The younger son told his father that he wanted his share of his father's estate now, instead of waiting until his father died. So his father granted his request and divided his wealth between his sons. In a matter of days, the young son packed his belongings, and left home for a distant country. There, he wasted all of his money on reckless living. After he had spent everything he had, a severe famine spread over the whole country, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. He found himself at such a low point in his life, and became so hungry that even the pods he fed the pigs, looked good to him. Nevertheless, no one gave him anything. He drowned in self-pity for sometime.

However, when he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, “At home even my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” He made the decision to stop drowning in self-pity and to do something about his situation. Why, because he came to himself and realized WHO he really was. He returned home to ask his father for forgiveness and upon his return, his father received him with opened arms, and a grand feast.

Like the prodigal son, you may find yourself drowning in self-pity. You may find yourself at such a low point in your life that doing something immorally wrong seems enticing. Like the prodigal son, you may find yourself in what seems like the ultimate mess. You may feel as though you are constantly being defeated. But realize that no amount of complaining or self-pity will bring relief.

Do not carry defeat -- trample defeat. Do not sink in self-pity -- arise to the occasion. Self-pity is an endless pit, and like the pigs, you will always find someone willing to remain in the mess with you. You will also find that others are unwilling to help you get out of the mess. No one will or can save you from yourself -- only you can.

So without compromise -- come to yourself and realize WHO you really are. Realize that you deserve the best because you are the best. Take heart and just simply -- come to yourself – and allow God to pick you up from the ruins of your broken life.

Copyright © 2003






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Motivational Speaker, Audrina Jones Bunton was born the seventh of eight children in her household in Pinehurst, North Carolina into a loving and committed Christian home. In her youth, she fondly recalls traveling throughout the U.S. with her family, as her parents ministered from state to state year after year—helping people as they traveled.

A graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, Audrina is a Competent Toastmaster of Toastmasters International and serves as the North Carolina District Sergeant At Arms. She is a former counselor of the Durham Pregnancy Support Services, a Christian-oriented crisis pregnancy center in Durham, North Carolina and is currently a Social Research Assistant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Audrina serves as the Youth Director at the Come As You Are Evangelistic Center in Aberdeen, North Carolina.

Modeling after a song that her mother so often sings, and one that Martin Luther King, Jr. often quoted, her life and speeches are based on the following lyrics, “If I can help somebody as I pass along, If I can cheer somebody with a word or song, If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong, Then my living will not be in vain.”

Audrina resides in North Carolina with her husband William, and 2 children, Audrina Lorraine and William Woodrow.

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