Hi I’m Daniel.
If you’re reading this you want to know a little bit more about me and my story, and you’ve come to the right place. Here’s a little about me:
To start, I’m a child of God and I live to serve Him. That means I live to love His people. I didn’t always know that or always even believe that, but the hope I found in Jesus doesn’t disappoint. It’s changed me, and you should know that it’s what truly drives me. It’s actually driven me to the point of committing to go on the World Race!
Before I truly knew God and had a relationship with Him in my “BC” days, I would never have imagined my life to be as full of hope and love as it now is. I would never have imagined I would be as blessed as I am with an entire community of fellow believers who love me and do life along side me. My hope is that in sharing my story with you, that you become inspired and that the love of Christ rests with you.
I was born on Five Five Ninety-Five in Columbus, Ga. I had a very good childhood. I played games with my brothers and my childhood best friend Kyle. As kids my siblings and I never had to worry about being fed or clothed, and my parents always did, and still do, their best to show my siblings and I how much we are loved by them. I grew up with my three brothers, Michael, Jacob, and David and of those I am the second. My parents are Sheri and Jimmy. I love them both dearly.
As a preschooler, I learned foundational stories and truths about God at a local church in Columbus and through my neighbor across the street my “aunt” Monse. As a child I believed in those stories as a child believes in the Easter Bunny. As I grew older those stories I’d heard became just stories to me, and I lived my life for the idol king I placed in my life. Me.
Despite having some exposure to who God is at a young age, I didn’t grow up in what one would call a “Church-Home.” Instead, my family was a lot like any other family in the US. We moved to the Woodstock area when I was in fifth grade and life changed. I went to public school and started playing sports in 6th grade. I played football, and like a lot of guys I found a new idol in my life. My parents divorced at that same time, and from there I made my god accomplishment and recognition. I was driven by a desire to be loved and known deeply. More deeply than people really can. I had a God sized void, so I tried to fill it doing the only thing I knew to do… what everyone else was doing. I played sports and chased relationships from that point in my life until my sophomore year in high school when my idols were finally torn down.
Half way through my sophomore year in high school I came to a very low point in my life. My girlfriend of two years dumped me. My relationship with my step mom, Keri, wasn’t great because I was hostile, and I was sort of jealous of the love my dad was giving my step siblings Riley, Kamrin, and Madison. Among other issues. Looking back I sometimes wish I could of just started loving the extra family I was given earlier on, but I’m also glad things worked out the way they did because God used the pain I was experiencing because of my sin to begin bringing about his plan for my life. (I now have a great relationship with all of my family I am happy to say!)
Friends who were in my life before being in that relationship I over-elevated started to hang-out with me again despite the fact that while I was in that relationship I didn’t spend much time with them. By God’s grace one of my old friends Chandler came to know Christ that year, and we developed a super close friendship through which I truly came to know Jesus. The good news of Jesus an what he’s done was shared with me, and on January 1st 2012, my junior year in high school, I came alive to Christ. I started going to a local church then Watermarke now Woodstock City with my friend, and I started getting to know God through His Word.
Since knowing Jesus my God sized void has been filled. Life isn’t always easy. In fact, I know that my God has promised that there will be trouble, but I know that I can trust Jesus in any storm. God has continued to use pain to shape and mold me, but now with a fresh perspective. Romans 8:28 says that God works ALL things together for the GOOD of those who love Him. That’s my story. God’s worked it all together for good. I want people all across the world, people like you reading this now and those without access to others who know what I know to experience what I’ve experienced: The love, the forgiveness, the grace, the mercy and the justice of God. To know that God is a perfect Father who loves you and I so much that he sent Jesus His Son, God in the flesh, to die the death that our sin deserved, that I deserved. To know that Jesus was raised from death in three days defeating sin and death once and for all, and that for those who die to themselves, who trust in God with their lives, they too will be raised from death. There is no greater joy than knowing God, and there is nothing like Him inviting you into a life to the full.
The World Race is another step on the journey God has called me to. God has called me to do deeper and reach farther than I ever have before. I pray that through going lives are changed. Mine included.
Thanks for following along, and God Bless!
-Daniel P
