My Story

 

Hey everybody! I already know a lot of you, and I’m looking forward to meeting the rest of you. Let me tell you a little bit about myself, where I’ve come from, and where God is leading me.

I lived most of my life in Grand Rapids, Michigan, although I also lived for a few years in Newberry, in the heart of the Upper Peninsula (or ‘UP’, for all you ‘trolls’ out there). I met my wife Bekah when we were both in high school. We went to different schools, but we went to the same church. We started dating when I was a senior and she was a junior. We both attended Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, which worked out well, seeing as how we got married in 2003.

We were both blessed by being raised in Christian homes. My dad is a pastor, and Bekah’s dad was a deacon (elder) in our church growing up. The older I get, the more grateful I am for my parents’ dedication to the Lord and to serving Him. I couldn’t ask for a better example of what being a servant of God really looks like.

Music has been an integral part of my life as far back as I can remember. I started taking piano lessons when I was in the second grade (thanks Mom!) and stuck with it through high school. I joined the band in sixth grade, blatting out “Polly Wolly Doodle” on my dad’s old cornet. Some of my fondest memories of high school were in the marching band and the jazz band…yep, I was a band nerd. I picked up the bass guitar my senior year and I haven’t been able to put it down since.

Less than a year after Bekah and I were married, we decided that God was leading us to move to Florida. The job market in Michigan had pretty much dried up for us, and God opened the door for me to go to Full Sail in Orlando. It’s a technical school, and I focused on audio recording, since I wanted to pursue some type of music-related career, and it seemed like a more viable path than being a professional musician.

After I had completed the program, I had my sights set on the big city: Los Angeles, California. I spent a week out there visiting recording studios and scoping out living arrangements. I had it all planned: I was going to be a big-time record producer. If you haven’t already figured it out, God had other plans.

I knew that we couldn’t stay in Orlando. We had made lots of great friends down there, but I was determined to follow God’s call in my life to being in music. Since my plans for LA had fallen through, there was only one option left: Nashville, Tennessee. We moved up here in the beginning of 2006. I was working as an intern at Dark Horse Recording in Franklin, and Bekah quickly found employment at a local company.

Guess what? That didn’t work out, either. I got completely burned out on recording, and even on music as a whole for a while. Plus, my internship was unpaid, and we needed additional income in a big way. A friend of mine was working at a golf course in Brentwood, and he got me a job there. Over the year that I worked there, God taught me a whole lot about humility, serving, loving people, and the importance of keeping Him first in everything – absolutely everything – that I do. In August of 2007, I finally yielded everything to the Holy Spirit and accepted God’s call upon my life into the ministry.

So here I am. It’s been a crazy ride this far, and I know that God’s got big plans for UpRising Church in the coming months and years. Your love and support has already been overwhelming, to say the absolute least. I’m awed and humbled that God chose me to be a minister for Him, and I’m excited and honored that He chose me to be here, in this place, at this time. There’s no such thing as coincidence, my friends. Let’s step out in faith and see what God will do!

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