Although I was raised in a traditional mainline Christian home, even attending parochial elementary school, I had no relationship with God. When I was 18 years old I met a couple of guys in college who were both practicing Christians. They were serious Christ-followers and I was attracted to the confidence they had in the God they served and the very personal relationship they had with Jesus Christ. Here I had been "going to church" my whole life but I didn't know God the way they did and I didn't consider Jesus to be a personal friend or an influence in my life the way they did. They were genuine in their faith and in the friendship we had together. In the most respectful and honoring way, they asked questions about my beliefs and my faith journey in ways that I couldn't defend. They clearly knew the Bible more than I did and they lived it. I was never encouraged to read the Bible in the church me and my family attended, so I was at a loss to know what was in it. Eventually, I found that I couldn't defend many of the Christian "traditions" I had grown up with and really didn't know why I believed what I believed. While I was intrigued to learn more about God, I was living a double life of sin that I felt trapped in. Then, during my junior year in college I did something horrific that resulted in loss of life. It was at that moment - the lowest point in my life - that I realized I was truly a sinner without any ability to "make myself well" or atone for my sin. I proceeded to "make a deal" with God that if He would forgive me of my sin and call me His, I would follow Him all the days of my life. That was January 1985 and I can confidently say that God has never 'left me nor forsaken me.' While I haven't been perfect since then, I can honestly say that God has been faithful in helping me become the man I never thought I could be. It started with God putting men in my life that taught me what it meant to follow Jesus with all my heart. It included men of faith who taught me what it meant to be a Godly man. After a two-year season where I felt like God "rewired my motherboard" He brought the most incredible woman into my life - the finest human being I have ever known - and we were married. God's faithfulness continued and He brought men into my life that taught me what a Godly husband looks like, and after three years of marriage He provided examples of what a Godly dad looks like. There is no way that I can express how amazing, exciting, satisfying, exhilarating, and joyous living a life totally dedicated to God the Father can be. Through God's faithfulness I have experienced blessings far beyond what can be explained in a text box, yet I know that through accepting what Christ did on the cross this life is nothing compared to what's in store in the life to come.