I have been sitting here for over an hour trying to figure out how to start this blog. Then the light bulb clicked on and I realized I could start by sharing that. Step one: Start my first blog….completed
My name is Kyle Nicol. I bet you pronounced Nicol like Nicole. It is a common mistake that has followed me my entire life. I was constantly asked. Why do you have a girls name? My name is actually pronounced like Nickle. If you got that right then I congratulate you.
I think it is important to know where I came from and how I got here to fully understand me.
I was born in Stroud Oklahoma but ended up in Chattanooga, Tennessee a few years later (pictured below).
I did not grow up in a Christian family or going to church on a regular basis. I was exposed to church by the amazing heart of my grandparents landlord Naomi. I remember as a small child going to church with her. The church was fairly small and old. I can remember sitting on hard pews with no cushions, the green carpet with the musty smell in the basement where we went to Sunday School and the coloring books.
As I grew older I found playing outside more interesting than church. God knew how much I loved baseball and one summer he used that to bring us together. I was either 8 or 9 and summer break had just started. Being fans of the movie The Sandlot, we decided to make our own baseball team. Behind my grandmothers house we turned into Chipper Jones and Ken Griffey Jr. and all the other greats of that time. With the Tennessee summer beating down on us we would play baseball all day. Then one day, one of the kids hit a home run. Most of the time a home run is a cause for celebration. Today it was pure terror as we watched the ball sail over the fence right into a neighbors window. I do not think the sound of the glass breaking caught us because we were running so fast. Naomi knew it was us that broke the window so she offered us a deal. We could either work off the money she had to spend on a replacement window or we could go to Church with her for one month. I chose Church.
One Sunday during my church debt, I was sitting on the hard pew listening to the preacher as sweat trickled down. This church had no air conditioner so all the windows were open so the warm summer breeze could give us the illusion of being cool. I wish I could remember the exact sermon but what I do remember is the most important part. On this particular day, the preacher was talking about birds. Almost as if it were trained to show up at the exact moment the preacher said bird, a real bird landed on the window seal next to me. Then the entire congregation sat in amazement as this bird flew into the church. The bird flew around the church chirping then flew back out the same window it had came in. God has the power to use all things to serve his will. It was that day that the seed was planted in me and nine years later it sprouted.
When I was 17 I went to basic training at Fort Knox in Kentucky . 
After the sixth week of Drill Sergeants yelling at us and so much physical activity you could not lift up a fork to eat , we got a break. A local Church had invited our company to their campus for a day. I think this event was voluntary but everybody went because it was half a day away from the Drill Sergeants and their pain. After all the cake and cookies we could eat we were shuffled into the church. At the end of the service the preacher was calling those who did not know Jesus to come to the front. “ I am not going down there in front of all these people” I thought to myself. I fought the urge to go but something deep inside of me was crying out to run. My hands were shaking, I needed to go, I wanted to go. Who is Jesus and why do I want to know him so bad? I ended up running down the aisle to the Preacher. Romans 10: 9-10 “ If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation”
After the sixth week of Drill Sergeants yelling at us and so much physical activity you could not lift up a fork to eat , we got a break. A local Church had invited our company to their campus for a day. I think this event was voluntary but everybody went because it was half a day away from the Drill Sergeants and their pain. After all the cake and cookies we could eat we were shuffled into the church. At the end of the service the preacher was calling those who did not know Jesus to come to the front. “ I am not going down there in front of all these people” I thought to myself. I fought the urge to go but something deep inside of me was crying out to run. My hands were shaking, I needed to go, I wanted to go. Who is Jesus and why do I want to know him so bad? I ended up running down the aisle to the Preacher. Romans 10: 9-10 “ If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation”
I then deployed to Iraq when I was 18
I was given a machine gun and told my job was to protect our truck. I covered the armor around my gun turret in scripture.
I came home mentally and spiritually broken, I turned away from the Lord. I was going to walk down my own path. I turned to alcohol and the world in general. Darker and darker my life got as I slipped further into depression. I was at the end of my road when Jesus picked me up and showed me that he still loved me. Psalm 116: 5-7
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the Lord has dealt bountifully with you
Fast forward a few years and another deployment to Iraq and here I am. I am 25 and attending the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga studying Social Work. I have the hardest time in school because I am constantly thinking about all the people that do not know God. I went to Iraq twice in service of my country but have done nothing for my savior.
A year ago I scribbled in a notebook that God is calling me into missions ( He is calling all of us), that I was restless and empty because I was not serving him. His command echoes in my head, “ therefore go and make disciples of all nations”. I have decided to be obedient to His call, that there is nothing more important in this life than serving the Lord. I want to give up who I am so He can be more..
A year ago I scribbled in a notebook that God is calling me into missions ( He is calling all of us), that I was restless and empty because I was not serving him. His command echoes in my head, “ therefore go and make disciples of all nations”. I have decided to be obedient to His call, that there is nothing more important in this life than serving the Lord. I want to give up who I am so He can be more..
