There and back again.

I have been home for 1 week.

I am Blessed.

I am thankful.

I am taking it day by day.

“No one has any right to demand where he will be put to work”
– Oswald Chambers


(I wrote this before I left, but I feel like I need to share it now.)

To My family:

Mom: I love you with all my heart, I can’t begin to thank you for all you have done for me. You have sacrificed years of your life to raise me. You pray for me, you feed me, you clothed me, you provided shelter for me. I don’t know anyone else with a more giving heart than you.

Dad: You are my hero, my protector, my teacher, my team mate, my provider, my father here on earth. I thank you for the hard work and commitment for this family. You have worked hard to provide for our needs and bring us to church. You have provided me with wisdom and strength to face each day and rely on God when we are weak. I remember one time when you where upset and you went to your closet, I went after you to find you and saw you praying with your Bible. That is the best thing I have ever learned from you, and you may not even have known it.

Sister: You helped take care of me when I was young, and you helped make me presentable when I was a teenager. I thank you for being my friend when I was a quiet little boy and for helping me become gentlemen. You may not understand or agree with what I’m doing I only ask that you try to understand why I am doing this. I love you and am always here for you.

Brother: You are on the edge of becoming a man and have many trials ahead of you. Look towards God, obey your parents, find good friends, and read your Bible. You are talented in ways I am not, don’t waste it. Use your gifts God has given you and look towards older, wiser, men who follow Jesus for advice.

Donkeys (Brothers): We have been through much together. We grew up together. We have faced ridicule, embarrassment, honor, judgment, anger, fights, pranks, trouble, police, parents, pastors, forgiveness, grace, and love. We are a brotherhood, we stand strong. Our friendships will last the test of time. We are separated now but a time will come when we are united again. Stick together while I am gone, fight the good fight. Seek the knowledge and grace of God in his word and in relationships. Honor women, be humble, be kindhearted, and be slow to anger. Look towards whatever is pure and holy, for the eyes are the window to the soul.


“I am not saying this because I am in need. For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty, I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, well feed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength”
- Paul Philippians 4:11-14