As a boy I attended church on a regular basis. For many years I thought everyone was going to heaven unless they committed a serious sin such as murder. Before I asked Jesus into my life I controlled my life from the smallest decisions to the biggest decisions.

At the age of 27 I was working for a local manufacturing company which required me to work in excess of 70 hours per week. I decided to change jobs. I decided to work for a company in the investment industry. I knew the job was straight commission but I had convinced myself that I could make it. In October 1987 the stock market crashed. I immediately was broken, humbled and devastated. At this time a Pastor shared with me that we were all sinners and needed a personal relationship with Jesus. I finally realized I needed to turn the small and big decisons over to Jesus. One of the first things I did after making this decision was to call a very close friend and to openly share the decision I had just made. The second thing I began to do was to read the entire bible for the first time. I never heard whistles or bells going off but almost immediately I had a unexplained sense of peace that things were going to be ok.

Since October 1987 I’ve had the opportunity to share what Jesus has done for me on numerous occasions. The exciting thing about sharing my faith is that I realize I’m simply a vessel (spokesperson) for Jesus. I’m an introvert by nature but when it comes to sharing my story I have found that Jesus uses what we perceive as a weakness in order to bring himself honor and glory. I would never had imagined that I would be teaching a Bible Fellowship class much less 15 years in a row. Since 1987 I have faced a number of different trials; children in the hospital, sons near fatal car wreck, job loss and most recently my wife of 23 years has been diagnosed with cancer. The difference today and life before October 1987 is that regardless what happens Jesus is still in control and I could not be happier with the decision I made in 1987. I can honestly say as a family we look at life’s challenges as bumps in the road and an awesome opportunity to see what the Lord is going to do through that situation.