Reflecting on my life, I know this Truth: God has loved me, and had His plans for me, way before I was even a thought in my mothers womb.  It didn't matter that I was born as an illegitimate child, to illegitimate high school sweethearts, who lived in lust. 

To God I was legitimate. 

To God I had a purpose. 

It didn't matter that I grew up in a household filled with fear of a loving father who had his own battle with alcohol. God was determined to make His way through and make His light shine on and in me like only He can. 

When I was about 5 years old, I experienced a moment that would be forever etched in my brain.  I can remember it like it was yesterday.  It was a brisk Sunday California evening down by the beach. Feeling down, out, and in need of hope, my mom had made a decision that would not only change her life, but greatly impact mine.  With a young me in hand, she marched her way into the church where there was a long line with a tub of water at the end. On that day, she decided she was going to make an outward proclamation of her newfound faith in Jesus Christ.  Even though I didn't necessarily know what was going on at the time, Jesus was setting the stage for what would be the start of my own faith journey.

From this day forward my Mom would preach the Word of God to my sisters and I.  She would go toe-to-toe with the devil daily, praying for her unequally yoked marriage, praying for us children, teaching us Scripture, and reminding us that Jesus loves us, even when we made bad choices.

As a kid growing up, I was angry.  Angry at the world.  Between the multiple moves, new houses we lived in, and the different schools I went to, I struggled to feel like I belonged. And just when I started to settle in, it was time for the next move or the next school.  

As I entered high school, my anger turned into a variety of vices that I pursued in order to fill the gap in my heart.  I wasn’t making good choices and I wasn’t walking with God.

When I was 17, I was in a car accident that should've claimed my life. My vehicle flipped vertically two and a half times, leaving me in a pool of blood and an open gash across my skull that would take 41 staples to close up. You would have thought this event would've been enough to straighten my life out.  And for a quick moment, it did.  I went to Bible College feeling a call on my heart to serve God, only to drop out less than a semester in.  

I would go on to marry my high school sweetheart.  Just kids ourselves, we rushed through life.  We married young, I became a dad at 22, and the tail of challenges continued to follow me at every turn. 

Although I knew God, believed in Him, and even felt His presence,

I had failed to fully surrender. 

This would be a theme of my life for the next 18 years.

I ended up getting my bachelors degree in religious studies and went on to be an intern at a local church, only to walk away once again.

In my late 20's, after having four kids and being married for nearly ten years, I endured divorce. I hated it. I would never have thought divorce would be a part of my story. I would self-destruct, fighting depression, and closing myself off from people in my life.

By the grace of God, I was blessed with the most amazing woman, my wife, Kaila.  Although neither of us were fit for marriage at the time, God had a plan to bring us together. As we started to grow closer to the Lord, we grew together, and we started changing the way we raised our children.

Feeling called once again, we moved from our home in California to Texas for me to attend Seminary and be a pastor of a small local church. That lasted for about a year before I walked away from God, yet again. (I told you there was a theme)

I turned 40 this year. 

After years of battling the love of alcohol, or if you want to be correct, battling being a 3rd generation alcoholic, God put it on my heart to stop drinking altogether.  Not for me, but for others, including our nine beautiful children and for my amazing wife.  It was during this time that God had put it on my wife’s heart to launch a ministry.  At first, I was on the periphery with my “been there, done that” attitude towards serving God.

Then, one fateful night that all changed.   While driving my kids to soccer practice in a 35 mph zone we were t-boned. Our car was flipped on its side, pushed against an electrical pole, windows shattered, airbag deployed, car totaled. As I looked in the back seat to check if the kids were okay, I couldn’t help but think, why me God? 

Why have you chosen to spare my children and my life, once again?

Then I began to realize God’s purpose for my life in a new way. I had always thought that serving God meant being in the church, but now I see that God wants to use my wife and I in a different way.

It was at this point I made the decision to stand with my bride and go toe-to-toe with the problems facing families today. We cannot change our children, or make an impact on the next generation, until we submit to God and let Him lead our household. Our goal is to change the lives of parents and children by showing them the power and love of God that we have experienced in our lives. We want you to know that regardless of your starting point, God is there for you, and He will see you through it.

God has a purpose for your life, and we are here to help you along.