During my childhood years, I was sensitive to God’s presence and desired to please Him with my thoughts and actions. All that changed when I was about twelve years of age. Fearful that God would call me to preach, I purposed to show everyone that the constraints of God’s will were not for me. After five miserable years of failure and defeat, I yielded to His plan and found the liberty that I had been avoiding. 

While attending Lee College (now Lee University), I met a beautiful girl, Linda, who would become my wife and God continues to bless us with a wonderful, growing family. Prior to attending Lee, my life had been heavy on experience and light on academics. After completing my undergraduate degree and discovering that studying can be quite rewarding, I continued my education and eventually earned three graduate degrees.

Until recently my ministry has been focused on two great loves: teaching at Lee and pastoring. At various times, I have served my alma mater as a faculty member in the psychology department, as Director of Counseling, and as part the adjunct faculty member at Lee Online. The majority of my time as a pastor was spent in Georgia, in the Athens/Atlanta area. While there, I served as the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone, Mountain West, and The Bridge Community Church (now The Neighborhood Church).

My introduction to Alzheimer’s was personal and very painful. In the fall of 2003, I recognized the beginning signs of memory loss in Linda. Fifteen years later, she became a resident of The Harbor at Legacy Village of Cleveland, and went to be with her Lord in May 2023. During this long ordeal, two things became very clear to me: My academic background was being greatly enhanced by on-the-job training, and secondly, God was preparing me to serve families going through similar situations. In January 2024, I became the Director of Alzheimer’s Support Services for Legacy Senior Living.  I will forever be grateful to Linda for serving as my inspiration through each phase of ministry, especially the challenges of Alzheimer’s !

Through the Long Goodbye
After the Long Goodbye