Wow!!!
I have never done something like this before where potentially everyone in the world can read what I say.
I am a little nervous about this and I don’t know what to say, so I am just going to type and see what happens.
(Deep Breath)
Here we go…
Hey world!
My name is Kyle Crimi.
I just thought I would share a little bit about myself with anyone that is interested.
My Family—I have two loving parents [Connie and John] and two awesome sisters [Kelly (23) and Kassie (21)].
My parents got divorced a few years back and my dad has since remarried.
So now I have a wonderful step-monster…I mean…step-mom [Charley] and great step-sister [Megan (17)].
My Life—I was born in
Texas.
My dad was in the Air Force so I moved a lot (5 times).
We finally ended up in the small town of
Jordan in
Minnesota.
We moved there when I was going into 4th grade.
I ended up finishing my high school days there.
I spent a lot of time in high school playing sports.
My favorite sport was basketball.
After high school, I went to
Winona
State
University.
I decided to continue my basketball career at WSU.
(FYI…the Warriors won the D2 National Championship last year, they are 30-0 right now, they have won 52 straight games (D2 record), and they are ranked #1 in the nation.)
While at
Winona, I majored in Math and minored in Math Education.
My senior year of college was spent studying abroad for the whole year.
I spent the fall in
South Korea and the spring in
Italy.
I came back and finished my degree.
After graduation, I went back to
South Korea to teach English for the summer.
When I got back, I started to look for jobs and realized that I would go crazy if I had to sit in a cubicle crunching numbers all day.
I applied for a job working as a paraprofessional (like a teacher’s aide) with a special education program.
While working as a “para”, I decided to go back to school to get my teaching license and my Masters in Education.
I am currently student teaching at a high school near my hometown.
A few things that I enjoy—Fishing, hunting, camping, the sound of rain, sunsets, sunrises, snow, being outside, country music, working with kids, laughing, traveling, different cultures, food from other cultures, meeting new people, playing basketball, running, discussions about life, and reading The Irresistible Revolution By Shane Claiborne.
My walk with Jesus—For the first twenty-three years of my life, Jesus has sat at my front door and has patiently waited for me tie my shoes and put on my jacket.
Two years ago, I noticed Him standing there and I decided to walk through the doorway and take my first steps with Jesus.
They have been pretty comparable to those of an infant.
I have stumbled and have fallen down a lot.
But the great thing about Jesus is that He has always been there to guide me or to pick me back up.
As I have been walking with Him, I sometimes compare our walk to the walk He is on with other people.
When I do this, I feel like I am standing by my mailbox at the end of the driveway and I can see everyone else half a mile down the road.
I know my driveway is longer than most driveways and that my walk with Jesus is more recent then most people, but this is still a little frustrating at times.
I feel like I am so far behind for a few reasons.
To start with, I can’t quote the bible, I struggle to pray out loud in front of people, I don’t know what to say or do to help people most of the time, and too often I still focus on my needs before the needs of others.
Part of me wants to kick it into turbo speed and catch up to everyone else, but the other part of me doesn’t want to miss out on the conversations that Jesus and I would have along the way, so I have decided not to try to rush it.
Even though I’m not as far as some people, I can honestly say that Jesus and I have had some amazing conversations and He has changed me so much.
The recent conversation we have been having is about love.
I am convinced that love is the only thing that is important and is the one thing we need to learn how to do.
It doesn’t matter where we are in the world or what we choose to do, but if we aren’t completely motivated by love, what we are doing is worthless.
(Check out 1 Corinthians 13)
I believe that Jesus wants us to be just like Him.
Jesus, to me, is LOVE.
I believe I am supposed to love others just like He did.
If you remember, I said before that I am standing by my mailbox at the end of my driveway.
Jesus and I have stopped walking and have been having a major heart-to-heart for a while.
It all started when I glanced back from where I came from.
I saw comfort, safety, family, friends, and my plans for myself.
Jesus sensed that and started telling me about a better place.
He told me that if I wanted to, I could stay here.
But if I wanted to follow Him and go where He is going, I have to let go of everything.
To be honest, I have told Him on multiple occasions that He is crazy.
I’ve asked, “I have to give up EVERYTHING?”
His reply has been, “Yes.”
I feel like I have been at a tennis match for a while because I keep looking back and forth between where I have come from and then up ahead of me.
When I look ahead, I can’t seem to see much because of this intense, blinding light.
Every time I glance back where I have come from, He whispers to me to let go.
I keep telling Him that I don’t know if I can.
He just keeps telling me to trust Him and He will take care of me.
It is really hard at times, but I am trying to trust Him with all my heart.
(Check out Proverbs 3:5-6)
Lately, I have been staring out at this blinding light for a while, trying to figure out where this is going to lead me and where I am going to place my next step.
I have asked Jesus which way to go.
I feel like He is saying, “Don’t worry about it.
Just start walking and see where the path takes us.”
Recently, I caught a glimpse of something up ahead, The World Race.
I have made a few steps in that direction, and as I have gotten closer, they have asked me to go on a journey with some really incredible people.
I have no idea what is going to happen in the future or where this trip will lead me, but I am ok with that.
I am really beginning to trust Jesus.
I am ready to leave everything behind and follow Him and learn how to love like He does.
I am really excited to be part of The World Race and I am going to do my best to love others and to follow Jesus.
