My Story
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FAQ's
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My Philosophy
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My Story
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I'm Andrew. I'm a father, a Youth Pastor, a public speaker, a pipe collector, a martial artist, a blogger, and a bunch of other stuff.
I grew up in the church. My mom was and still is a Children's Pastor. She's been doing it for 30+ years so I've always been involved with some type of church ministry. I remember pretty vividly feeling God's call on my life when I was in Junior High. |
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I still can't explain it but I remember being at a youth event and just having this overwhelming feeling that youth ministry was what I was supposed to do with my life, and so far, it has been.
I decided to attend Southwestern Bible college which is now Arizona Christian University and I hadn't even finished sophomore year before I had a part time job as a Youth Pastor. It was trial by fire but I loved it. That position ended up being full time pretty quickly as I took on the responsibilities of Worship Pastor in addition to running the youth group. I got married in March of 2009 and became a Dad on Sept 22, 2010! (Side note: my daughter is cuter than yours... Just sayin')
At this point in my life, everything was pretty awesome! I was living the dream, but in November of 2011 it all blew up. My marriage fell apart!
As a pastor, I was sure that my life, as I knew it, was pretty much over. We had tried counseling, and though I was willing to try whatever else it took, she was done. I was devastated and had pretty much decided that I was going to resign quietly and try to figure something else out. I had done everything right up to that point. Wife, Kid, Dream job. But what church wants a divorced pastor on staff? I had no idea how God was going to use me. But I was in for the ride of my life.
I went to the leaders of my church and told them where my life was at and they told me that if I tried to resign they would shred my resignation. My church came around me with love and support in a way that I never could have imagined. God began to use me in spite of my brokenness and imperfection.
My life was no longer the perfect Mona Lisa type portrait that I had worked so hard to build but I realized something profound. Though my life was covered in smudges and spilled paint from a divorce, God was still working on my as he painted an abstract masterpiece.
My Story is not about a broken home, or a failed marriage. My story is about the faithfullness of God.
I decided to attend Southwestern Bible college which is now Arizona Christian University and I hadn't even finished sophomore year before I had a part time job as a Youth Pastor. It was trial by fire but I loved it. That position ended up being full time pretty quickly as I took on the responsibilities of Worship Pastor in addition to running the youth group. I got married in March of 2009 and became a Dad on Sept 22, 2010! (Side note: my daughter is cuter than yours... Just sayin')
At this point in my life, everything was pretty awesome! I was living the dream, but in November of 2011 it all blew up. My marriage fell apart!
As a pastor, I was sure that my life, as I knew it, was pretty much over. We had tried counseling, and though I was willing to try whatever else it took, she was done. I was devastated and had pretty much decided that I was going to resign quietly and try to figure something else out. I had done everything right up to that point. Wife, Kid, Dream job. But what church wants a divorced pastor on staff? I had no idea how God was going to use me. But I was in for the ride of my life.
I went to the leaders of my church and told them where my life was at and they told me that if I tried to resign they would shred my resignation. My church came around me with love and support in a way that I never could have imagined. God began to use me in spite of my brokenness and imperfection.
My life was no longer the perfect Mona Lisa type portrait that I had worked so hard to build but I realized something profound. Though my life was covered in smudges and spilled paint from a divorce, God was still working on my as he painted an abstract masterpiece.
My Story is not about a broken home, or a failed marriage. My story is about the faithfullness of God.
One of my favorite paintings.
