Hello everyone! Well here’s my first official blog post. I should start by saying I apologize to the grammar police. I will do my best, but no guarantees here. Today i want to share a little about my past and a little about the future coming up.
I am a military brat. My dad was in the air force and we settled as a family in San Antonio, Texas. I grew up in a very loving, good home where God was mentioned and my dad used to read to us from the kid bible, but I had no idea what it meant to have a relationship with the Lord. My mom had some pretty bad church experiences as a kid and it truly shaped the way she viewed church so we just didn’t go as a family. Some time in my first year of high school I started attending youth group and bible study with my friends. I honestly don’t remember how on earth I ended up at the youth center participating in youth group, but I went. We had an amazing youth pastor (I’ll mention more about him later) and some awesome leaders that came every week and poured into us. What I know now is that they were the hands and feet of Jesus. They were doing His work. What I thought then was they were just giant kids that liked to talk to us about God and run around and be crazy with us.
I continued to attend youth group every week and had the opportunity to attend a summer camp that changed my life. I was presented with the opportunity to follow the Lord and I took it and ran with it. I can remember writing my parents a letter telling them that I really wanted my family to attend church. I wanted them to come to know God the way I did. My leaders told me to pray not pry and I did just that. Guess what happened, we as a family started going to church. In the few short years to follow my sister and brother also had similar experiences to me and came to know the Lord as their own.
We had the worlds best youth pastor. When I say he was the best I absolutely mean it. He will forever hold a special place in the hearts of our family. Pastor Skip Courter was an Air Force Chaplain who was (still is) a Jesus loving giant kid. He poured his heart and love into the teens of the our little air force base in Texas. He spoke hard truth to us, he loved us, he played incredibly fun and funny games with us, and we drank some pretty nasty concoctions of stuff every time we went anywhere to eat. There was nothing fancy or complicated about our youth group. We played games, had fun, read the bible, and learned about God through it all. He baptized my brother, sister, and I and her married Widmar and I and my sister and her husband. He also poured into our family the last several years through my moms cancer and death. Not because he had to, but because his love of the Lord and our family prompted him to. He planted the seed of faith for each of us and prayed for our family and with our family through my mom’s final breath. For that we are forever grateful.
Very few things are constant in a military kids world. Always moving, having to make new friends, schools, etc. A good solid teen ministry was essential for me and I know it is to many families. I am honored to know the leaders of the kids military ministry here at Fort Benning (Club Beyond). Steve (he leads the youth here) reminds me of a younger, taller, more bald version of my favorite chaplain Skip Courter. He truly loves these kids and pours into them each week. They are hosting their very first fundraising banquet on February 24th at the National Infantry Museum here at Fort Benning. I have agreed to host a table or two for this event and if you are local I would love for you to join me. It’s truly a special way to see how God is working in the lives of military teens. If you would like to join please let me know or RSVP to the email on the flier below.
If you can not join I would love for you to consider committing to praying for these leaders and kids that come through this ministry. That they would come to know and love the Lord and that they may just be the seed that is planted in their families. That families would grow and multiple the kingdom of God. There is also a place for you to give in this link if you can. Pray for our military teens and for all teens around the world. It is a hard messy place to live. Pray that they would have someone come alongside them and share the love of the Lord with them.
Roman this World 