Introduction

I have been thinking about starting to blog for several years now, and I figure that I may as well and start.

Here is a little about me, I was born and raised in Port Huron Michigan. A week after high school, I left for the Navy, and I spent eight and a half years serving in the U.S. Navy. While I was in the Navy, I served onboard the U.S.S Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), U.S.S Hermitage (LSD-34), U.S.S. Steven W. Groves (FFG-29), and the U.S.S Saratoga (CV-60).

I had several jobs (SCM Glidco Organics, Langston Electric, Beach Pizza) after I got out of the Navy, and they allowed me to pursue my dream of entering the software development field. I finished my B.S. in Computer Information at Univ. of North Florida.

While I was going to school, Alltel Information hired me in their Custom Programming Department. I loved working for Alltel. It was fun, it was challenging, it was a good job. Later, Fidelity purchased part the information part of Alltel, and this made me start to think about security. This is because we went through a couple of rightsizing (downsize) measures. While I still had a job, some of my friends did not.

To back up just a bit, I started to think about God calling me to the ministry when I first started my faith walk in 1999.

It was during these rightsizing events that I gave the Action Rollo at a Via de Cristo weekend in Jacksonville Florida. During one of our breaks after I gave my talk (I did not mentioned that I was thinking about being called to the ministry of Word and Sacrament during my rollo), Larry M. and I were talking about our pastors, and he then placed his left hand on my right shoulder and said, “I have all the respect for our clergy (looks me in the eye), and for those individuals who will become our clergy.”

Once this Via de Cristo weekend was over, I went and told Pastor Ellen (my pastor) of this event along with several other events that I have skipped in this brief introduction. She then told me that it now was the time for me to start my discernment concerning God’s calling.

A few years later, I started my seminary education at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus Ohio. I am now schedule to start my internship at Our Redeemer Lutheran church in Marion Illinois.