My Bio

Here's a little bit about me, in case you're wondering.

I am 6 foot even (usually) and I battle my weight a lot. I'm currently near my maximum of 370 lbs. although a lot of that is left over from my body building days in high school. So I don't look that heavy, but I sure do feel it. Please don't recommend a diet because I can't lose weight if I'm not able to exercise that much. Has my weight contributed to my disability? Absolutely, but it's hard to know which was the precipitating factor, the cause for the other.

Ok so far? All right. I was born in Colorado and first lived on a mountain pass west of Denver. I don't remember a whole lot, except being told I couldn't go outside to play because there were bears in our yard. Another unwelcome guest at this same house was the lightning. Two houses I have lived in have been struck by lightning, but the one on the pass was struck multiple times, usually taking it through my mom's stainless steel kitchen sink, although we had ball lightning a couple of times according to my dad. My dad calls me Sparky because of my tendency to find thunderstorms in the mountains.

Education was difficult for me. I was "gifted and talented," although they never clarified which of the two I belonged to. I went to public and private schools. I've tested above average on raw intelligence--this doesn't mean I'm wise--and I was diagnosed with what came to be known as ADHD. These factors practically guaranteed that I would not fit in with the crowd and when you go to a private school with only one or two cliques, this means you're alone in your outsider's world. Rejection stinks, and it was one of my motivating factors in deciding to homeschool my children. College was better both academically and socially, but I ran out of money before I was able to complete my degree. Based on my experience, I don't recommend college for anyone until they are sure they know what they want to do for the rest of their lives.

I've made a lot of mistakes in life but here's what I consider my biggest that if I had it to do over again, I would. I started dating girls around age 13. I broke a lot of hearts and had my heart broken a lot in those next five years. I got emotionally and physically involved where I had no right. This isn't a recrimination on any of the girls I dated. I simply should have not been in those relationships in the way I was involved and I often wonder if I made any positive contribution to any of them. I probably did, but it's hard to see it looking back.

God is amazing, and he allowed me to start over. I realized my mistake and repented, promising myself I would let God direct me to my wife when He judged I was ready. A few months later, I found myself falling in love with my friend and future wife, Karen. We were engaged far too long, but even then, God helped us and kept us from messing things up. Our wedding was a simple, church ceremony by our pastor and God was a big part of the ceremony. Our honeymoon was in Silver Creek, a beautiful, smaller ski resort.

Making the adjustment to married life is never very easy, but we made a good decision in getting good counseling before getting married that saved us a lot of grief. We found ourselves being drawn to youth ministry and that defined our role in our church for years.

Eight months after our wedding, I was involved in a car accident that didn't seem too terrible, but it was the pebbles that started the avalanche towards my disability. I rear-ended another car and found myself folded around the shoulder strap of my seatbelt. The injury to my throacic part of my spine was treated, but it never really healed. In five years, I made a career migration to an office job that was less demanding and allowed me to earn more. I ended up working for ministries based in Colorado. That's what I did for a day job, but my wife and I began to find ourselves moving from youth ministry toward young marrieds and families.

Our family began growing in 1996 with the birth of our first daughter and grew again in 1999 with our first son. Our introduction to parenthood was traumatic with our daughter requiring a crash C-section and cardiac surgery 40 hours afterward. God was amazing and walked us through the first days and years of parenting.

My wife and I first began feeling our long-term calling in our first year of marriage, but it didn't really hit home until our realization that we were burning out on youth ministry. We took a very low cost retreat and it had a deep impact in our lives on all levels. We began to see that performing as servants of God is a distant second to being His children and that we needed to plug into God as the source of our strength instead of relying on ourselves. The retreat was a key moment in our lives where God allowed us to reconnect with Him and with each other.

Our vision now is to see God use this in more people's lives, especially those who are in ministry themselves and needing to make adjustments. We believe that despite my limitations, God can do great things in us. We are eager for what he wants to do in us and through us.