I became a Christian in January of
1999. Before that my past feels like a
distant dot on the horizon of my life.
After becoming a Christian my life totally changed. My interests changed, my priorities changed,
my desires changed, and my life for all intents and purposes started over. Looking back, I can see a total ability to
relate with Jesus’ analogy of the new birth.
For a more detailed version of my conversion, check out “My Journey for
Truth.”
In August of 2000 I began going to Central Christian College. I roomed with Skylar Stiverson, Josh Monaghan, and Ryan Monaghan. The year was exciting, fun, and just really nice, overall. I think the best part was living in the dorms near so many awesome guys and not having bills or concerns. I loved having the cooks make food for me and just chilling out all the time. My classes went by okay, but looking back, I just really didn’t care about my grades.
In December, before Christmas break, I
met a girl at school named Arryn. I
knew her through my roommate Josh, since he was a friend of hers. We talked a lot and hung out a lot. To make a long Christmas break short, we
really missed each other over break and realized we liked each other. In January when we returned from break,
Arryn revealed her feelings for me and I reacted by running away. She was brokenhearted and upset so I took
her to the city park to talk to her and explain why I could not be with her.
That night when I started to talk to
her, however, something happened in my heart.
I looked at her and knew in my heart, “this could be the girl I
marry. I could totally see her as my
wife!” Instead of turning her down
nicely, I surprised her by asking her to court. I explained to her that I did not date for fun and that we would
be finding out if we were compatible for marriage. We started dating on January 20th. Less than a month later, we were
engaged. Six months later on July 21st,
we were married at Pleasant Hill Church of the Nazarene by my Pastor, John
Miller. Our honeymoon started in Kansas
City. We went to Worlds of Fun and then
flew to Phoenix to meet her family that couldn’t come to Kansas for the
wedding. From Phoenix we went to L.A. I got to see the ocean for the first time
and I actually saw Disneyland! We spent
the whole day. It was so much fun.
I’ll stop talking about that now.
Reflections on being married:
Marriage is highly underrated in our
society. Granted I am still according
to most, “a newlywed,” (I plan to
always be a newlywed) I think I have some helpful thoughts. The reason marriage is underrated is because
marriage means nothing to people. It
used to mean commitment. Now it means
happiness together, and emotion over solid commitment. The problem with that is that when the
emotion fades, the commitment fades along with it.
I am commited to Arryn and that
changes everything. When you have a
fight and you’re dating, there’s always a a fear of being dumped or splitting
up. But with real commitment there is
never a fear of loss. When there is a
fight, you simply work through it and learn how to respond to difficulties in
the future.
I love being married to Arryn because
she is such a good match for me. She is
funny and encouraging. She is agreeable
and understands me. We really go well
together and she is really encouraging in my walk with Christ. She wants me to always be pursuing God,
otherwise she notices and holds me to it.
My Father:
The day that Arryn and I began
courting, my father had a heart attack which led my family on a course that
would change our lives forever. After
his heart attack, he stayed in the hospital, recovering for several days. A week later we learned that he was type-1
diabetic. About a week later, we
learned that dad had leukemia.
Dad fought the leukemia for 10
months. Mom sat by his bed throughout
the entire battle with cancer. The
leukemia ravaged his body and the chemotherapy he endured really wore him out. I am so proud that he did not just give up
and die. Instead he fought it all the
way to his death.
My sister Libby was always encouraging
mom alongside of her. It was really
taxing to stay in that hospital next to my sick father all that time. Especially since the chemo really changed
his personality. He was hard to get
along with and often became rude. It
was hard for mom, but she encouraged him and clothed him and fed him and was
always there, rarely leaving his side.
My other two siblings, Andrew and Sarah, continued being home-schooled
the entire time that dad was in the hospital.
Gracefully dad’s employer continued to support our family. Without his help and graciousness our family
would have been in serious financial trouble.
We will always be grateful to Bob Moss for his love and help.
In July, Arryn and I were
married. That was a hard time because
it’s difficult, looking back, to not wonder if we should have waited to marry
with regard to dad. He supported my
decision to marry, but, it often appeared to me, only because he knew God would
take care of Arryn and I. Ultimately,
it was God’s will that Arryn and I married when we did, and I am really glad
that dad could be there for my wedding.
3 months later, dad died, surrounded
by his family, his dying moments spent looking into my mother’s eyes, a smile
spread across his face. He was only 43
years old. My mom later said that that
smile, that last moment spent with her and only her was a gift from God. “God gave that to me,” she later told me
through tears of joy.
His funeral lasted several hours. It was probably one of the longest funerals
ever. Pastor John (who married Arryn
and I) preached the true Gospel message, telling my dad’s family and friends
that they could never earn their way into heaven. They could only come through Christ himself. I spoke for a few moments, and we played
some great music. We ended the service
leaving on the song “That Where I am There You May also be” by Rich
Mullins. It was a joyful procession, a
reminder that in only a little while we too would leave this world to be united
to Christ. Some of our family
disagreed, feeling that we should have a somber, solemn funeral, but they did
not understand the truth of Christ and the hope of the resurrection!
Mom is currently preparing to open her
own restaurant in my hometown.
I discussed my father so much because
it and my marriage have been the greatest most defining moments of the last
year.