I was a bad kid; I did pretty much what I wanted. I didn’t go to school, stole to occupy my time and got in a bad relationship. I gave my life to Christ when I was 16 and was water baptized; I even felt a call to ministry. After High School I slid back into my old ways, stopped going to church, started smoking and drinking again. When I was 19, I received a phone call; an old friend invited me to church out of the blue. That night I rededicated my life. In that church I met my wife; we were married and moved to OKC where she had received a job. The pastor who married us mentioned Harvest so we looked it up. We knew Harvest was where we were supposed to be; we loved the worship and the people really made us feel at home. Not long after, God called me to NGI. It helped me to see and appreciate how much work it takes to be successful; it also helped me to be more social and outgoing. I am grateful to God for bringing me to Harvest and the life I have today; I don’t know where I would be without Him.

At age 12 my stepdad sexually abused me. A year later, I moved to my Dad's. I was severely depressed and I was abusing myself. I was also messing with weed and I was on 4 different meds for depression. Within a year at my Dad's I ended up in the hospital for depression and suicidal thoughts. This happened 3 times. Grades in school plummeted. I went back and forth between hating and loving God. I didn't know who I was or where I was going. In fall 2010 I took multiple pills, trying to get high, to feel happy. That day I went to the hospital, I thought it was the end, but God knew it wasn't. He saved me again. I got help from leaders at church. In Jan. 2011 I was off all my meds, feeling free and ready for my future. Looking back now I see that every bad thing Satan meant for destruction was turned into something beautiful by God's grace. The brokeness, shame, depression, hate was turned into love, strength, joy,]and hope. This isn't the end to my story, God's still writing it.

God led my wife and I to Church of the Harvest at a time in our lives when we were both being blatantly unfaithful to each other. From what seemed like an impossible and ugly situation, God has brought healing and restoration to our marriage and our family. Through God's grace we now work with other married couples to help strengthen and preserve marriages. A short time after our reconciliation, the enemy attacked me again, with a debilitating neurological situation that left my life crippled by Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Depression. I was forced to leave my 20+ yr career in law enforcement and face the fear of uncertainty in everything I had known. Though there are still difficult days, God has been bringing me through it all, opening brand new doors of opportunity for me to help others in the midst of my healing. He shows His strength through my weakness! No doubt there are greater days ahead. I take great joy in knowing that my Harvest family is with me through it all!

I lost my papa just 3 weeks ago. My dad left when I was young, so my papa was my dad. In that time I chose to run from God and not too him. I became very depressed. Last night my life came to cross road. I could hear God telling me that I could choose to continue to run and fall further into depression or I could choose to let him be my strong hold and my healer. I chose him. I woke up this morning feeling like a completely different person. You see, for me my depression was a choice that I made. I knew that I was running from God and I didn't care. I selfishly wanted to stay there. The scary thing is my life started to spiral out of control very quickly. The amazing thing is. As soon as I asked the Lord for his help he restored me. I could feel him healing my broken heart. He did it in an instant. He didn't make me feel bad for running. He met me right where I was. It didn't matter if I had run for 3 weeks or 3 years. God was faithful and loved me through it.

2008 was quite the year for my wife and I. I was 3 months shy of working at The Oklahoman for 25 years when the news came, I was layed off. Wow, my head was spinning. I had always worked, never been without a job. God was always in my life, I had always tithed, helped out at the church, Sabrina and I host a Connect group.... I kept thinking, how could this happen? I never quit believing in God, but still how could it happen. We never quit tithing, in fact we made several "extra" offerings believing that God would take care of us. We never pulled back. Sure, there were questions and dark moments, but in the end after being out of work for 13 months, I had a job. It wasn't THE job, but it was a job. The cool thing is that we came out of those 13 months being 2 months ahead on our home mortgage and after 2 years at that job, I was promoted back into I.T. and now make more money than before. I truly believe that God rewards faithfulness and I praise my wife for always supporting me!

In 2009, two weeks after my first time at Harvest, I was laid off from my job. The job market for my style of position was in a huge downtime. I needed God more than ever. A very close friend sponsored me to go to my first Men's retreat. I wanted to crawl in a hole and fade away but at the retreat I was encouraged and pressed in. Financially I was a mess. Then I saw Danny Chambers teach on a Sunday night. He taught on tithing. As soon as we got right with our giving my wife's business started growing. I believe God sustained us and used my time while unemployed to teach me to trust Him. It was amazing to see my faith confirmed. Through that whole time we were never late on a bill. Money just came in. We tithed and paid bills. Plus because I stayed connected, I found my biggest mentor and best friend, Andrew Morris (even if he does like the Packers). I don't ever want to imagine a day without God or my COTH family.