Where It All Began!

Good day all and peace be with you,
I am starting a blog because I thought it may be good to spend some time recording my journey through this crazy thing called life. My hope is this will be beneficial for my readers.

Following recent news of hate crimes happening almost daily, I agree with most of my fellow Christians in that this world needs more prayer and God. What better way than to share my story. But first, I think a lot of who I am is attributed to my upbringing. So here goes some bragging on my parents, since they deserve it, and don't get enough. They are humble and probably would not let me press "Publish" if they were here. But I'm in Texas! Nana Nana Boo Boo!

It all started in 1981, when my mom (Sheri) and my dad (Ronnie) said "I Do." They were married at Mulberry Church of God in Mulberry, Florida. My great Uncle Bobby (my mom's mom's brother) was the Pastor that married them. In the 1982, my parents said Yes to Life and conceived a baby boy. On March 5th, 1983, I was born. 

Growing up, my parents demanded respect, responsibility, and faith from me and my sister. Respect came to us naturally as our butts were whipped with a belt if we were not respectful to authority/elders and others. There were some hard lessons here later in life. Responsibility came a little later when I thought my parents would buy me the $70 pair of jeans instead of the $30 pair. Instead, they provided me a job to work for money to spend on jeans, should I so wish. Every time the doors were open on the church, we were there. Every opportunity to be put to work, I was put to work. Not knowingly, there were forces or people behind my parents guidance...my mother's mom and aunt's and uncles. 

My mom, dad and my mom's family were always heavily involved in running churches, or participation in church activities. There were extended family members grounded in the faith that set the example for my parents, and my parents were and are still grounded in their faith. This really set the precedent for my raising. My grade schooling consisted of private schools, which were almost always connected to the church we were attending at the time. Didn't matter what the cost, my parents sacrificed a great deal for me and my sister to attend private school. I'm sure there were financial stresses caused by sending us to private school, although my parents did a great job of hiding it, or just being humble and thankful for what we had. 

My father began his own painting and repair business when I was a young child. I think he was eager to put me to work and teach me about responsibility and work ethic. After all, his father was a great example of work ethic. If you know my dad, he is not just a talker, he's a doer! 

With only a high school education, my father has grown his business substantially and is on the verge of 30 years of business. He has survived very difficult economic times. It would be unrepresentative to say that he did it alone. God was always first, no matter what the cost. For that, I personally believe my parents are and continue to be blessed. And with their blessings, its amazing to me to know that they give most of them away to bless others. (Sorry for squealing, mom) I won't get into specifics out of respect for my parents.Coming from a family not grounded in faith, he embraced my mother's faith and lives it out every day. With his faith at the forefront and his dedication to family and work, my father has set a perfect example for me as a father now.

My mom and dad just celebrated 35 years of marriage. What a fantastic example they are setting in that respect. They have set the bar high. So high, I hope I can be as good as my father, led by Our Father, to lead my growing family to attain or exceed that bar. 

That is all for now. Over the next few posts, I hope to take you more through my journey so far. Until next time, my friends.

- Jason