7 Things

This idea was taken from Nate over at CFHusband.blogspot.com.

Here are 7 Things You May or May Not Know About Me:

1. I can't stand shaving. I usually will shave once a week on Sunday morning. Recently my wife has gotten me to shave a second time a week, often falling on Wed. or Thurs. For this reason, I will always have facial hair. It means there's less to shave and it makes the unshaven areas a little less noticeable.

2. My dad is training to become a pastor. He's currently attending Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute He hasn't yet completed his first quarter yet but he's doing well. He told me he's having to study all day every day. It's got to be hard for him since he's never earned a 4 year degree before, but he's making A's and B's.

3. I've had quite a few surgeries. I've had my tonsils removed. I gained a nice phobia of needles thanks to the kind of hospital treatment I received. To this day my body reacts in ways I can't control when I'm about to be poked by a needle. It's really annoying!

My appendix removed. It happen the night of the first day of soccer season and prevented me from playing my second season in college. It was the second most painful experience in my life. I remember being cringed up in the fetal position for about 4 hours trying not to move as I waited for my surgeon to complete a night of sleep (he had just pulled a long shift and needed rest before cutting me open).

I had all 4 wisdom teeth removed (two were horizontally impacted). This experience would have been nothing at all had my doctor sown me back up correctly. I bleed so much that I could not hold down the pain medication, so I went through recovery without any medicated assistance.

And lastly, and the most painful, I had rather extensive knee surgery. I suffered an injury that detached my ACL and MCL, turned 70% of my meniscus to putty, and put a hole in my femur about the size of a dime. It took me a little over a year to recover. This pretty much destroyed my ability to play soccer like I used to.

4. I didn't play sports much growing up. I remember being a kid and having some bad experiences. It wasn't until I was 15 that I was introduced to soccer. I was either playing or practicing every day (rarely missing a day) for the next 5 years of my life. I fell in love with this sport. Sadly, from my devotion to soccer, by the age of 17 I learned how naturally athletic I was. I was always the fastest runner (should have ran track and played football). I was fearless (I suffered SO MANY injuries because I put myself in harms way to stop a goal or to make a goal). Have you ever wished you could go back and do something different? I would love to go back and play sports, and have someone put certain childhood cruel coaches in their place.

5. I love playing music! So far I've learned how to play the flute (and forgot), the trumpet (forgot but I bet I could pick it back up), the drums, and guitar. Music is something that has been a major part of my life since I was 9 years old. Twice in my life I've sat it down because of bad things that happened. The first was a band instructor who frequently cursed us students out (and I was always 1st to 3rd seat, meaning I was among the best trumpet players in the group and we were ranked the 3rd best Middle School in North Carolina). I quit band because of that instructor when I was 12. The second time I'm going to keep to myself, but I'll say that I'm still having a hard time picking up the guitar and feeling the way I used to about it. My fondest memories of playing music surround memories with my dear friend Brian Henderson. We spent a lot of time writing music, goofing off, and just having time to praise God together. I will always remember and cherish those days!

6. I married a PK. Sarah is the daughter of Rick Lawrenson, who is the lead pastor of Nags Head Church on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Sarah's uncle Andy is a youth and children pastor, her brother Nathan is a worship leader, and her grandpa is a pastor.

7. Growing up I thought I was going to be a career artist. But it turned out to be something I enjoyed as a hobby but never something I wanted to have deadlines for (here's a previous post with some old drawings from my teenage years). So now I dabble in graphic design and such. I created www.verostudents.org from scratch and I'm in the process of designing the layout for a 6 week bible study for new believers (the content is based on a bible study I was introduced to when I first came to know Christ through the ministries of Campus Crusade for Christ).