Well, where do I start?

In the beginning chapter 1

There are truths in this world regardless of whether you believe it or not. In my life there are so many signs of proof of a Greater being interceding on my behalf. This Greater being is also known as God. If you would examine my life you would see that I started out without a father in my household. This was not Gods design, but a decision made by a selfish man, my father. Regardless my Heavenly Father had a plan for my life despite of my earthly father’s decisions, and people in my life stepped up. I grew up catholic in a German catholic community. This was probably to my benefit because if I was on the other side of town and acted up, my mom knew about it way before I got home. I was not a trouble makers, but I was a typical kids prone to getting in trouble from time to time. I would ride my bike all over town, and play with the other kids on my street. I was pretty typical for the times.

My father left us, my mom, sister and I, when I was about five years old as I recall. This caused my mom to have to work long hours at the Kroger grocery store there in St. Bernard, Ohio where we lived. We were poor, very poor as I recall. I remember the smell of sour milk and the occasional water bug scurrying across the floor. There were two old German ladies that lived next door that would babysit when we were smaller, but as we got older we were “latch key” kids, with me watching my younger sister. We went to church at St. Clements church there in St. Bernard. I went to mass like everyone else, went to confession as I was told I should to get forgiveness for my sins.

This was the life that I knew as a young child growing up in the 1970’s in a German Catholic community in Greater Cincinnati. Then my life took a turn for what was both good and bad.

My mom met a man who was a Pentecostal by faith. All I had ever know was Catholicism and the rituals of the Catholic Church, a Pentecostal church was a huge change for this very simple boy to grasp. When we went to church there could be someone running down the aisle or someone yelling some random words that were completely foreign to me but had repetitive words and patterns. This was like being on a different planet to a 10 year old kid! Regardless of the theatrics that happened during a service, this was the period of my life where I had my first true encounter with God! I know that this is probably controversial and my Grandmother probably just turned over in her grave, but this is my experience.

I went to Sunday School where I learned about Jesus, and who God was, and why Jesus came to earth as a man. I learned about the Holy Spirit and what role He plays in our lives. I was in attendance on Wednesday evenings at Royal Rangers which is a youth program in the Pentecostal church where I gained a closer life lessons understanding of the God who loved me and His Son Jesus Christ. It was during a youth group outing at the Oakley Assembly of God that during a service I went forward with several other boys in the group my age and made a decision to ask for forgiveness of my sins and accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. This was a huge event in my life that will intersect in my future life, more on that about 20 years beyond this point in my life. There is a period in my life where nothing really seems like it is happening in my spiritual walk. My today self can look back to those days and know with certainty that God was very active in my life in those early days of my spiritual walk. He was busy setting up stages for me to enter, closing doors while He opened others. There were many lessons that I was learning, some the hard way, others God had mercy on me. At age 15 I got involved with a popular girl in school who was out of my league but for some reason she had a passion for me. God was there protecting me from some bad outcomes. I got involved deeply with alcohol at about age 16, God was there once again protecting me from myself because He had a plan for my life. I barely graduated High school, #184 of 224 kids in my graduating class. My stepfather was abusive, mostly mentally, but I will say that my mom finally left him the day he punched her and blackened her eye. I’m not here to expose all of his deeds but as you can imagine things were very bad at times, then would get better. This ebb and flow was a consistent pattern in my teens years hence the promiscuous behavior, alcohol abuse, poor grades, being kicked out of the house to live with a pastor once, my dad once and my grandmother another time. Through all of this God was there.

I left for the military on September 11, 1988, I was headed to Great Lakes Recruit Training Center. Going into the Navy was my decision but only because of strong encouragement from someone who I had hung around with in high school. He received an advancement for recruiting me, I got a promise that was a half truth, and a four year contract. In hindsight the military was good for me, and I wish I had stayed in and retired from active duty service. After boot camp and two training schools I picked orders for VAW120 NAS Norfolk Virginia. This kept me about as close to home as I could possibly get, 624 miles from home. Another change that happened while in the military is I became a Baptist. The military has a way of bringing the need for religion out of people. There was a Baptist church just outside of Gate 4 just up from Browns Market, I would walk there on Sunday mornings to attend Sunday school and services. There was a very nice older lady there who kind of took me in, and encouraged me. She was my Sunday school teacher and a motherly figure for this young man away from home serving his country.

Military life became very tough for me, I was lonely and felt stuck far from home in a place I was starting to not like. I was stuck in the line shack working as a plane captain, I wanted to go to the airframes shop that I had received training for and was expecting to work in that department.