My Story

My family moved a lot growing up. I was born in Pensacola, Florida, raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee and currently live in Houston, Texas. I attended 12 different schools while growing up and no, we were not a “military family”.

I’m also the oldest of seven kids — four boys and three girls. It wasn’t always convenient or easy while we were growing up, and we certainly went without on many occasions, but it’s made us closer to each other and I am grateful for those trying times. It’s funny, but what I remember most was the fun we enjoyed as a family — there was a lot of laughter.

In 1983, my family moved to Houston and this is now my ‘home’.

My family always attended church — or perhaps I should say, “church-es” — since we steadily progressed through a number of denominations, including Southern Baptist, Bible Church, Assembly of God, Baptis-matic, and of course, the nondescript-but-a-denomination-nonetheless, “non-denominational” churches. I even attended Confirmation in an Episcopalian church with a friend of mine.

In nearly every church we attended, it was only a matter of weeks before the local leadership recognized my dad for being the spiritual teacher that he has always been, and he was quickly asked to serve in leadership or teach — only to be un-invited just as quickly, as soon as my dad began raising questions for which the pastors did not have answers. Dad’s always been good at asking “those” questions.

We were frequently looking for new churches to call home.

At age thirteen, I began playing keyboard and singing. If you were a musician and went to church, that meant you were supposed to be on the “worship team” and play music during the church service. I became good enough at playing music to be asked to lead worship for our youth group and then for the “big church” service. I became a worship leader and led worship at several churches over the next 20 years.

By my twenties, I had observed enough of the manipulation and abuse that takes place in churches to decide that I was done with attending church altogether. I decided that I could have a relationship with God without the weekly hoopla.

A good friend of mine encouraged me to visit a “different” church with he and his wife, and that Sunday I experienced something different for the first time in my life. We had stumbled upon a group of folks who disliked “church” as much as we did, but were committed to following Jesus. That’s it. No kidding.

During that time, I also met a sexy little brunette named Kay, who played piano and laughed at my jokes. We couldn’t spend enough time together, so I proposed to her on a Friday night in the sanctuary of the church that had now become our family. She said, “yes,” and we’ve been falling in love for 15 years now!

Kay and I attended LRC (a unique, “weekends-free” church) for more than 14 years. I served on staff in some capacity for most of that time, running sound, leading worship, pastoring youth and even running a citywide art contest for high school kids called, “Culture Shapers”. Today, we cultivate our spirituality through meaningful conversations with our close friends and family.

I know that part (if not all) of my destiny is to be a great Dad. Anyone can father a child, but it takes something different altogether to truly father, and I want to be that kind of Dad. Kay and I have three beautiful kiddos, Kate, Ethan and Karis, and my favorite thing in the world is confirming my theory — that the most irresistible force on the planet is a Daddy laying on the floor.

Check out Kay’s blog for mommies to read some of her own stories and experiences!

By the way, in 1988, I founded leftlane designs, a graphic design company, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work with some fantastic clients throughout the years. In addition to being a source of income, it’s also an outlet for my otherwise pent-up creativity.

I enjoy playing disc golf with my brothers, sports car and kart racing, all things Mac-related and engaging my friends in conversation over a latté.

I’ve heard that the only problem with any problem is how you look at the problem, so I’m learning to take a “look” from other angles. That’s what this site is about.