I was born and raised in a Christian home in Phoenix, Arizona. When I was 8 years old, I woke up one morning and just knew that I needed to be saved and that Jesus was my savior. My dad walked me through accepting Jesus into my heart and the next Sunday I walked down the aisle and was baptized. When I was 12, I realized that while I was saved, I had really not been paying any attention to what God wanted me to do and act and I rededicated my life to actually following him. It’s been a crazy journey ever since!
In high school I met my future wife, Christy, and we began dating. I always went to church on Sunday and Wednesday and she was very curious. Sure enough after coming with my family and going to bible studies, she also accepted Jesus as her Lord and savior and was baptized.
After high school we got married in the church we were both baptized in. I attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, earning a degree in Accounting. During our time at Baylor, my faith moved from something I was born into and accepted, into something I truly chose to believe. My faith became MY faith and not my parents’. While that was happening, I was not going to church or reading my bible, beyond college requirements. Amazingly, God still used that time and when I graduated, we moved and started attending a local church. Wow, were we both amazed at how much we had missed God and His church. We learned a lot in the 2 years we were at that church about ourselves, God, and what we needed to change in our lives.
When we were expecting our first child, we moved back to Phoenix to be near family. And bing, bang, boom, 3 boys arrived in fairly quick succession. We were involved in 3 local churches during our time in Phoenix; a church split, a failed church plant, and a growing church plant – in that order. God taught us many things at each church. While some of them were what not to do, we still learned valuable lessons from each church and God continued to help us grow.
As God worked out circumstances in our lives, we felt called to move to Montana and a new phase in our journey began! We joined a local church and there is not enough space to write all God led us through. We experienced amazing “mountain top” moments (the adoption of our daughter Ember) and also experienced “valley of the shadow of death” moments (the passing of our youngest son Jonah). With the church’s emphasis on the Bible and missions, we grew in our love for both. But all good things must come to an end, and once again we felt like God was moving us on. We had reached a “desert” phase in our spiritual journey with God and it became apparent, however painful or crazy it was, that the next steps in our journey were not going to be in Montana.
God then led us to Oregon and once again, God has had many things to teach us and help us grow closer to Him. We joined Foothills the year before COVID hit and while that may not have seemed ideal, we made many friends and started serving. Joining the new live stream team (thanks COVID!), teaching in children’s ministry, and (after Covid restrictions lifted) starting the Griefshare ministry. Through this time we have grown in our walk with God by connecting with others in life groups, continuing to immerse ourselves in the Word, and becoming more purposeful and consistent in our prayer life.
God is not done with us yet and whatever may come, good and bad, we look forward to the journey with Him and His church!