I know some of you are wondering, how did I get to the point where I would be willing to drop everything and leave the country for 11 month? I know for the people that do know me, know that I can be adventurous at times. Well let’s just say it wasn't an easy decision, but just let me tell you all about it!
My journey to this decision started back in high school. God had been tugging on my heart, but I was so blinded by the things of the world that I wasn’t ready for the radical life change He was calling me to. One event in my life that definitely struck something in me was the passing of my father. I remember how so many people talked so highly of my father; it started making me think that this is how I want to leave a legacy when I die. The transformation started after seeing the effect you can have on people’s lives when you serve them. My life started to change, but I still didn’t want to fully commit my life to my Heavenly Father. Let’s just say the sin I was living in was still more enjoyable than God. Now looking back, I’ve realized that God always had His hands over me. I can remember at times when I was getting ready to do something I had no business doing; I would get this uneasy feeling (conviction) about my actions. But just like anything else, if you ignore something the feeling would soon go away. The crazy thing is that I knew that I wanted to live for Him, but I had typical world view of Him that I wasn’t ready to follow all of His “rules” just yet. I remember telling myself, when I get older and have a family I would start living for God. So basically I was saying, when I’m done indulging in my sin I would be ready to change my life. Thank the Lord He spared my life!
College life, thank God for forgiveness!!! During my college years His call on my life got extremely stronger, but I would still ignore His calling. Sometimes I wish I would have just given up earlier in life because it probably would have saved me a lot of self-inflicted headaches. I can remember during my years of college sitting in churches and feeling like my heart was going to jump out of my chest when alter call came around. The enemy was so slick though. He would feed me lies like; you’re not ready yet or wait until next Sunday. Let’s just say, next Sunday turned into 3 years of next Sunday. The first year and half or college I was at Pearl River. That chapter of my life was coming to a close and I was trying to figure out where my next chapter would be at. Still to this day, I wonder how I ended up deciding to go to this little country town in Tennessee. I ended up signing a scholarship to play football at UT Martin. Now I thought Picayune was a small and country town, but I truly believe this town was far worse. Needless to say, Martin, TN became home to me. I had no idea that the decision to go there would be where a major encounter with God would happen. My encounter with God happened in January 2009, God had been tugging on my heart and I couldn’t run from the call on my life any longer.
After graduating college, I got a random phone call to come to an interview with Jacobs Technology. Off to Destin, FL I go!!! Now I know some of you are thinking, who wouldn’t want to move to Destin? Well I did not want to move because I was still attached to a person back in TN. I soon found out that He is a jealous God and when He wants your attention, He will get it. The last 20 months of my life have been such a blessing. God has been molding me, teaching me, and stretching me in ways I could never have imagined. In the last 20 months, my commitment to Him has become so much greater than when I first came to Him. I’ve become so committed that I was able to drop everything in my life and go to the nations to serve and share the Gospel.
My life has been a serious of rollercoaster. I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, but God is still good. I’ve done some things in my life that could have gotten me in some serious trouble. Looking back, I would not trade my life for the world. God favor has definitely been over my life. Over the years, I’ve meet so many wonderful people that a lot of you I call my family. I thank God for that. During this journey, He has truly showed me what it means to be a follower of Christ. Is it an easy lifestyle, No, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world. Here is a synopsis of how I got to the point to follow God’s calling to the World Race.
