Last Sunday, I asked Foothills member Chad Storey to talk about about how he became a Christ follower. A common theme in his story was his persistent determination to understand the Bible and its application to his life.
”I listened to the whole Bible.”
Growing up, Chad had good role models for a work ethic, but he had no examples of what it meant to seek after God and live a life dedicated to serving Him. In spite of this, God was at work in Chad’s life. While attending Western Oregon University, he met Vicki and began dating her. Chad said, “I would go to church with her in Sweet Home, which was my first experience with Protestant Church.” The teaching he heard there challenged him. He had never heard it before. “So,” Chad said, “I got the Bible on cassette tape and listened to the whole Bible.”
Through listening to the Bible on cassette tapes and talking with Vicki’s family, Chad made the decision to accept Christ. Shortly after that, Chad and Vicki were married and moved to Stayton. They looked for a church to attend and made the decision to attend Foothills.
“I felt the joy of what God did in my life.”
While at Foothills, Chad attended a Sunday school class taught by Matt Lucas on the subject of discovering your spiritual giftedness. Chad came away from that class wanting to give back to the church. “I felt the joy of what God did in my life,” Chad said, “and I wanted to give back to Him.” As a result, Chad has served the church in a variety of ways: working with youth, serving as a deacon, ushering, setting up chairs and preparing coffee on Sunday mornings.
Chad finds serving the church rewarding. “It’s like I can have a cruddy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at work and be exhausted Thursday and go to youth group and when it’s over, feel better.” It encourages his soul. Rather than just one more thing that drains his energy, he gets encouragement from the experience.
“God is going to gift you. He has gifted you already.”
When serving others, you might think you’re not good enough. “When you’re saying, I am not good enough, I want to be better before I help, it’s a bit of a selfish thing. If you just humble yourself and say you’re just here to do what you can, you’ll be surprised.” Chad’s belief: “God is going to gift you. He has gifted you already, and He is there to help you with those things. God is working with you; you’re putting in the time, and he’s not going to hang you out to dry.”
Do you have the time to serve others? “One thing that people complain about in life is time.” Chad said, “I think once you make a priority to do something, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to meet that.” He continues to tell how when his small group planned to meet on Friday nights, He thought Friday evenings were for socializing and fun not Bible studies, but soon he realized that the group time was more important.
I enjoyed talking with Chad about his journey. What impressed me the most was Chad’s commitment to live out his Christian faith.