With his headphones on listening to his opera play list with the demeanor of “no one talk to me,” Max Finizio sits down at the pottery wheel ready to throw some clay. Now finishing his freshmen year at Winona State University, some would have never guessed pottery was a favorite among his hobbies.
“I love pottery,” Max said. “Looking at it now, it reminds me of God – It’s so creative but so symmetrical – he’s creative but it’s perfect.”
Like pottery, God has been at the wheel of Max’s life, shaping and molding Max into his own masterpiece. But for Max, he hadn’t always viewed himself, his life, even more so his testimony as God’s masterpiece.
Growing up, Max was brought up in a Christian home with his parents and younger sister, and had always been taken to church. As far as Max could remember, God had always been a part of his life. But the home he was raised in was soon broken by divorce in second grade. After a year or so of going back and forth between homes, and the abuse from his father made known, Max and his sister were not allowed to stay with their dad any longer. In fourth grade Max accepted Christ into his life at Camp Shamineau, camp continuing to have a huge impact on his life growing up.
In sixth grade, Max remembered receiving a phone call from his dad telling him he was moving to Oregon.
“From that point on we didn’t see him, I refused to see him and couldn’t deal with all of that,” Max said. “I had a huge hole in my life that was supposed to be filled with a Dad.”
God was still there for Max and Max continued to grow in his faith, but could never see God as his own father. After saying goodbye to his dad, Max had to get used to the new father figure in his life, his step dad.
“He and I have a great relationship, but is has been a long and rocky road of getting used to having this new guy in my life who [was] going to help raise me,” Max said.
Even though it seemed his family was being put back together again, Max and his family had a lot of healing ahead of them from the deep wounds left by his father. Max continued to go to camp where he grew the most in his faith. But he and his family could never seem to find a home church where they fit in and with his parents both working a lot, this also made it difficult to find that church community. But even without a home church, God was always the center of what they did.
“I always had this view of God as being someone to help me and keep me safe from danger and sadness,” Max said. “ It was rough because that was a lot of my life, depression and anger and sadness.”
From the past hurt and pain, it grew harder for Max to continue to grow in his faith because of the chains that weighed him down. His whole life was affected by these chains, from the relationship with his step dad to the jealousy that arose when around his friends whose parents were still together.
“It effected my self esteem a lot, and I was able to be broken down or built up by any comment [made] by a person who I really looked up to,” Max said.
By Max’s senior year in high school, Max began to seek God more, asking him how he can lead or be an example to those around him. Soon Max got everything he could have ever wanted, captain of the wrestling team, going to state, everything he aimed to achieve. As the year was about to end Max wondered how he should spend summer. Looking at the past year and how God had truly blessed him, Max wanted to give more of himself to God.
“I remember thinking, ok, God gave me all these things this whole year, everything I could’ve ever wanted,” Max said. “Thinking, ok, I need to serve you, what do you want [God]”?
Through that question, a still strong love for camp and the work of the Holy Spirit, God lead Max to give his summer to working at camp.
Put into an environment where God was the center focus of everything, where prayer was in everything and surrounded by a great Christian community, Max’s faith, and his life changed even more. Through the work of God, healing was taking place in Max’s heart, changing it more into God’s design.
Coming to Winona, Max came into his freshmen year of college thinking he could never grow in his faith at a public school that had the reputation for partying. But goal driven and determined Max was not about to let that get in the way of finding a community where he could grow and learn.
“Right away I was like, alright I’m going to find it other wise nothing is going to happen,” Max said.
Through searching and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Max got connected right away with college ministries that would pour into him and constantly challenge him during his first year at college. Through InterVarsity and H2O College ministries, as well as certain people coming along side him to disciple him, Max grew even more in his relationship with Christ and through it began to see the truth about his past.
“I wanted to be my own person and not be a victim anymore,” Max said. “I found peace in God being my helper and redeemer but still had these deep cuts and many issues that I kept inside and pretended wasn’t there.”
After the first semester, the H2O Winter Conference came and that was where all the walls came down for Max.
“[There are] a lot of things that I will never be done with, I will carry it with me, but what I carry now is the joy of Christ, rather then the sorrow of what people did to me to break me down,” Max said. “Winter conference was crazy. Every time I doubt God and his power, He loves to reveal himself to us – he loves to prove us wrong completely and uterly. He proved me wrong that I was not all fine.”
As God continued to use those around him to disciple and encourage, using one person in particular to drill into his head that his past does not definte who he is, Max’s eyes were opened even more of the true healing found in Jesus Christ.
“For the longest time I was ashamed of my testimony where I came from, the things I went through, what those things created me to be rather then seeing who I am in Christ. Was afraid the way people looked at me was with pity [and] identify me with my past. I thought I was done with dealing with all these problems. I talked enough about it. I didn’t want to tell people – it wasn’t me it wasn’t who I was today. The past would define me; it was a sickening thing. It took a while to see that my testimony is God’s story through me. It is my story – how God has captured my heart and has continued making me who I am. Looking at how God has shaped and refined me to make me new. That I think that is my life – his plan for me.”
Through the process of healing, Max has his own story of redemption. His father who had been out of his life for so many years called Max one day and talked with him. Through that conversation and several more, Max’s father has now come back into Max’s life and they are starting over again.
“Praise God,” Max said. “Jesus is the only true healer.”
Through a life of struggle and hardship and within one year of a willing spirit, Max’s life, the clay, has been molded and shaped by the ultimate craftsmen.
