Another Journey

As we set out on the journey of life we encounter many obstacles and road blocks. How we over come or go around them shapes who we are and what we become. This time of the year is always a transition time from school to summer. For some it will just be another summer and for others it is the end of a large chapter and the beginning of the next. Their journey to college, work, or military has many roads. Where will I go, what will I do, how will I make it.

I can remember just three years ago I had these same thoughts and questions. I was not sure how it was going to work out or how I would ever make it without a miracle. The real miracle was I was going. Before I get to that we have to go back almost tens years to when I graduated. It was June of 2000 and I had joined the Marine Corps. I was to leave the day after graduation, but graduation never happened. It never happened due to a bomb threat on the venue of the graduation. So I would be heading away without walking with my class. To be honest I was happy I did not have to sit through a graduation with some 600 plus students. Looking back on it I wish I had been able to go.

I headed out said all my good byes and was on a plane for San Diego, CA. I arrived with some small delays along the way, but I had made it. The next thirteen weeks would be tough and it was going to make me a United States Marine. "The few the proud the Marines." That was going to be me all buff and tough with my M-16. Little did I know that my next chapter was about to have a big dead end. Just one week into basic training after I had been yelled at alot, shot in the butt with every needle available, and had received my rifle I got some bad news. On the seventh night the drill instructors inspected each recruit to make sure they were injury free. They looked at my feet and saw that they were red and blistered and sent me to the doctor first thing in the morning. I was told that I had problems with my feet and was heading home, but not before they got manual labor for a week. So I had made it two weeks and now I was going home. My dream of a military carer had gone up in smoke. What would I do now?

Once I came home I spent the next several years going from job to job. Trying night school for a few semesters and just feeling like school was not for me. I felt like there was no purpose for my life. All I did was work, eat, and sleep, and I had no friends they all went away to college. I became depressed and that led to drinking. What a great idea drink to cure depression, wow I was a bright one. I finally had a thought "If there is no purpose then why live." I decided to first go to church with my family and see if this God thing was real. If it was real then there was a purpose for me. The next year I kept going to church and was enjoying it. I had people to talk with. Nick and Chris invested alot into my life. They were the young adult/ youth leaders. They left after a year and I was back to whats going on I had no one again.

My journey kept taking turns and I felt like I was getting motion sickness. I left my church in search of another one where I could learn and grow. By this time I had two friends from high school I spent time with. I am so thankful for them and their love they showed me. My journey landed me at Westside Baptist Church where I meet some amazing people who would alter my journey. I came to true faith while at Westside and was led to my first overseas mission trip.

This chapter of my journey I would call my great commission year. In the winter of 2005 I decided to look at bible colleges and found my current school Boyce College. This decision came from a conversation I had with a dear friend. I had mentioned that I felt God telling me to go to college for ministry and his advice was "if God gave you a dream put some legs on it and get going." In the spring of 2006 I visited the college with my friends Jason Young and Darrell Morgan. Darrell had recently become an associate pastor in Williamstown, KY. This college just so happened to be in KY as well, and it was only a little over an hour away from him. After seeing the college I knew this was where I wanted to go to college. Before coming to college I went overseas again this time I spent 6 weeks and worked with a missionary. He taught me a ton about missions and what it meant to be a missionary.

My journey kept taking me places I had never thought were possible. I went to college and I am still there. I work with youth, preach and so much more. I never would have believed all this would have happened ten years ago when I graduated. My journey looks so much different than I had thought, but I would not change it for anything. The next chapter in my journey is to head overseas again this time for 4 months. I am still waiting on my acceptance letter for the program. So as I have reflected on my journey I encourage others to look back at theirs. For those young students know this that where ever your journey takes you God will be with you and His guidance will help you to be a faithful servant for His kingdom. Our journeys are a testament to the power of Gods saving work. If he can take a depressed kid with no confidence on the edge of suicide. He can use anyone of us for His great purpose.

Psalms 25:4 "Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths."