I’ve had the beginnings of a few different posts crafted in the past few weeks, but none of them felt right to proceed with because I wasn’t sure people would see where I’m coming from. In the years that I have been posting on this blog, I realized that I’ve never shared the story of how I came to have faith in the Lord our God, and I think that needs to be stated before I can really move on with my other thoughts.
Going back, when I was a child, my family attended church sporadically. I can remember sitting in church, and time in Sunday School, but I don’t remember it being a regular thing. By the time I reached middle school (5th grade for us in Connecticut then), we had stopped going except for Christmas services.
We then moved from Connecticut from Ohio, still didn’t make church a priority, and I happened to become fast friends with a man who is still one of my best friends to this day, Wade Apel. Wade and his family were very devout Christians, attending church regularly, and he had invited me to go with him on several occasions, and I had always politely declined.

Later on in high school, he talked me into attending a high school Men’s Breakfast where we read through several books. However, with a very scientific mindset, I had formed a pretty strong deist attitude at that time, and I spent more time fighting and criticizing the books than reading them. Even though I was getting into some Christian music, I really wasn’t buying into the message.
I then went off to college with little more on my mind than finding a relationship. Late in the first semester I found a relationship (ironically with a Pastor’s daughter), I was happy, and little else mattered. However, over that Christmas break, I spent a few weeks down in Florida (one with my family and one with the college swim team), came back, and realized that I hadn’t even thought of my girlfriend while I was gone. I realized that if I had been able to go a few weeks without thinking about her, she really wasn’t that important to me, and I cut things off with her.
Well, after that I was embarrassed and disgusted with my desperation from the semester before, and combining that with some roommate issues and some great friends I didn’t feel I deserved (and probably a dash of homesickness) I went into a period of mild (self-diagnosed) depression. The last few weeks of the semester, I took a class that only met on the weekends, and went home for the time in-between.
Returning back home, Wade now invited me to a college student bible study, and I went ahead and tagged along. The study just happened to be on the Song of Solomon and we went through Tommy Nelson’s video series. Talk about timing and a wake-up call! This series not only made me re-think the way I pursued relationships, but just how I treated people in general. Most importantly, it made God real for me. He is an active part of our lives, whether we chose to acknowledge Him or not!
I went back to school with a renewed life and enthusiasm (and going back as an RA, no roommates to worry about), and all those friends I didn’t feel I deserved saw it and helped me to nurture it. I got very involved with the local church, our on-campus ministries, and spent my next three spring breaks traveling the country on mission trips.
I then moved on to Pittsburgh after graduation, and that theme continued. I ended up meeting my wife (that’s a whole ‘nother funny story) at one of the Christian groups on campus, and I ended up getting involved with the worship team at a local church, eventually becoming the leader of that worship team and a board member before facing some difficult decisions (a whole ‘nother not-so-funny story).
Looking back now, I can see the path that God set me on long ago. I just didn’t know I was walking it!
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