Welcome! Nice to Meet You!

I always held a certain amount of pride when it comes to meeting new people and building new friendships.  Actually, if I was being totally honest, my shyness and social awkwardness didn't start wearing off until I was 24 years old.  But wouldn't you know it, by that time a lot of people I ran into already had their close-knit group of friends that it became rather difficult to infiltrate their social circle.  That is not, however, why I began this blog.

I have been encouraged lately to begin writing a blog to document my journey through chronic pain because of disc degeneration disease in my lower back.  As a 33-year-old man with lots of energy, having a debilitating condition leaves little room for strenuous activity whether it be through recreational hobbies, household chores and yard work, or simply walking a couple blocks down the street.  I didn't necessarily want my first blog to be confined to only talking about my pain because there is so much more to me than just this battle for mobility.  It is a huge part of my life that I must face daily.  However, to only talk about my pain journey only serves to define me as the pain...to lessen my identity down to my condition.

As God as my judge, He created me to be more than that.  I am not my pain nor the symptoms of it!  I am a child of God, a follower of Christ! And I believe that it is my calling to use the gift of writing to encourage, inspire, and help those who may also be struggling.  Whether you are faced with physical or mental anguish as I, curious to know more about Jesus because you have yet to meet him or are doubting your faith, or if you simply just want to read and follow along life's journey with me, then I invite you to prayerfully consider subscribing to this blog.

My prayer for you is that you will be encouraged by my stories, inspired by my writing, and blessed by my testimonies.  After all, I'm not writing this blog for myself but for each of you!  I hope you will find many gems within these posts throughout the coming months and years (however long I can faithfully keep up with them) for your own life's journey, in order that you can smile in the face of uncertainty and begin each day with a new hope.  A hope that says "I'm not alone."  A hope that can only be found by the grace of God.

Walk with me into the great unknown!!

Bless and be blessed, my friends!!