Thank you for taking the time to look into the heart of this project and the person behind it.
My life has been very interesting to say the least
I came from a very wealthy and well to do family. We pretty much always had whatever we wanted: The fancy cars, huge 8,000sqf 2 story house, the lake house and water crafts, private schools, every tool posible, the parties. Our house was the ultimate party house.
There were 5 kids in the family: 3 sisters and an older brother. I am the second oldest. I had a strong work ethic, but really never had to have a "real job" until after high school. I have escaped death and or severe injury on more than one occasion. I was the victim of harsh verbal and sometimes physical bullying that started when I was in the 5th grade as a result of a horrific and near death experience. The bullying and name calling lingered all the way into my high school years.
This resulted in me feeling like I had to prove myself as a man, which only led to more problems. I used weightlifting and football, bullying, and among things as an outlet from my pain. In 2002, my family experienced a great tragedy that left us all mentally, physically and spiritually hurt.
The last 10 years and really more so the last 15 years have brought great hardship and many tears to our family. We went from having everything to almost nothing. We did not let it take us down. We took a situation that was meant for bad and turned it for the good and we have been blessed to get to help others suffering as well. One of these days I will tell you my unique and inspiring story, and the reasons why I have overcome the challenges that I have faced over the last several years.
The last 10 years and really more so the last 15 years have brought great hardship and many tears to our family. We went from having everything to almost nothing. We did not let it take us down. We took a situation that was meant for bad and turned it for the good and we have been blessed to get to help others suffering as well. One of these days I will tell you my unique and inspiring story, and the reasons why I have overcome the challenges that I have faced over the last several years.
"I'm not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:11-14).
I suppose it would help if I told you who I am
- My name is Matthew and I am 30 years old. I am from the great state of Oklahoma and have lived here most all my life. I grew up in Tulsa, which is one of the larger cities in the state. I attended Metro Christian Academy most of my life and graduated from there in 2002. After a series of life altering events and resigning a nearly full academic and football scholarship to Kansas Wesleyan University, I took part in a 1 year internship with a world outreach agency called Real Impact Missions. It would be about a month into the internship that I found out why I made the life altering decision to leave a sport I had loved and worked so hard for over the course of my pre-teen and teen years.
- At the end of the internship in August of 2003, I was blessed to be able to make a huge move that would literally change my life forever. With less than 2 weeks left until my first year of college and literally having just gotten back from a 2 month stay in Venezuela, I began yet again another unpack/packing session to jump into a whole new life.
- After experiencing a really rough year for the family, my mom sold what little she had left to pay for the remaining amount of my first year of college tuition as well as buying me a gently used car. Little did we know, that this one act of kindness would change all our lives forever. After a LONG NONSTOP 25 hour trip to Columbia, South Carolina, we had finally arrived at our final destination of Columbia International University.
- My mom and I said our goodbyes, and then that was it. I did not know when I would ever get to see my family again because I was broker than broke; we all were! I remember it like it was yesterday, I met my wife the very first day of school. Of course she had no interest in me at the time because I looked a bit different. My hair was down to my shoulders and I had this huge beard.
- My clothes were way too big because I had stopped working out after high school and started running during my internship and went from a solid 275 to a toothpick, at 210. I was also a bit outdated because I am pretty sure I had on the same clothes I wore in the 8th grade. It was because I HATED with a passion to have to go shopping to get new stuff, plus they were good quality button ups. Oh and I forgot to mention the tapered jeans. All that to say, I looked like a mix between a 40 year old/bum/"big Jesus", a nickname I got in college.
- I started dating my wife in November of 2003 and we got engaged in March of 2004 while on our Spring Break visiting Tulsa. We later married in June of 2004 in her hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina in a small family church.
- Now being completely broke, but yet in love, we decided to "take a year off from school."Yeah, that lasted a bit longer than a year. It was mainly because we really did not know what we wanted in life, as well as the school we attended was a very expensive private school. We also did not want to get in a bunch of debt. Kind of funny, seeing where we are now. Things are for the better and are changing. You can only imagine how much more debt we would have been in if we both continued there.
- We lived and worked in Columbia for almost a year after we got married before we decided to move to Tulsa. We got settled in, worked a bunch more, had a bunch of junk hit us, and then we worked more. Life just happened, knocking out our 3 month savings on more than one occasion. Not even giving us time to recover, something else would happen. Next thing you know it we had credit cards to their max and it was not uncommon to see me working 60-90 hours a week. I forgot to mention we had a baby in between all that in 2009. We were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. She was worth every penny in diapers, clothes, etc, etc,,,We love her.
My work history in a nutshell
- I have worked in most aspects of landscaping. More or less, I have been playing in the dirt a majority of my life and have worked in this field for about 5 years. I have been in roles such as the Lead Grounds Keeper for a local college, Journeyman groundskeeper for a large university, to the weed picking, limb hauling, and shovel guy.
- I left the landscaping field to return to school and work in the medical field. I worked in the medical field for around 4 years. All the way from being a medic for a nationally known ambulance service, to working in a small hospital in the ER and surgery department as a tech. I never saw my family and had grown very unhappy with what I once loved. A few months before I left my Ambulance job, God got ahold of my heart once again and really changed me. I took around a $17,000 pay cut in order to have my family back. I went right in to working for and opening a new hospital and just as fast as I got there, I was gone. Six months into it, several people were let go because there was not enough patients to justify keeping everyone. That's what we all got from it at least. Three months later I finally got a job working as a lead grounds keeper. Just a month into the job I had a severe accident. I was treated over the following months with not much progress and in November, of 2011, everything went downhill. I had to stop working after Thanksgiving and soon after had a major surgery January of 2012.
- The next eight months would prove to be the most trying times we had ever faced. My sick time and vacation time had ran out after Christmas and from January till July, of 2012, I had no income coming in on my part because of my recovery time. God never failed us during this time. He provided for all our needs in so many miraculous ways. He blessed us through friends and family, random strangers, and many nameless and faceless people.
- As of June 2012, I was let go officially from my Lead Grounds Keeper possition. I was not covered under FMLA because I had not been there a year at the time. Unfortunately, it was their policy due to the prolonged absence from the surgical recovery.
- God had other plans for us and we are more than blessed for having gone through it all. I am back to full health, but unfortunately will not be able to work in the landscaping field again (It's a shame I won't be able to work in Oklahoma's 115 degree heat anymore).
- At this time we are re-evaluating our life and refocusing our thoughts as to where God wants my family and I to be. I was set to graduate with an Associates degree in May, of 2012, (although, I have gone to school long enough to be a doctor, I am sure a lot of working adults are familiar and have similar experiences) but those plans have been put on hold for the time being. In August of 2012, I was blessed to get to start a new career. I am excited to see what all God has in store for us during this next chapter of our lives.
As far as my Awards and Achievements and Education
- I will keep it simple and leave that for my future resumes, plus it makes this shorter. I have been really blessed to have carried a high GPA in college and been on various honor rolls, blah, blah, blah. I was also blessed over the years to get to serve with many different Christian organizations and reach out to various individuals and groups from all walks of life. While at Columbia International University, I was fortunate enough to serve as Freshman class president. As far as my A&A's? Most came from sports, but that stuff is boring. Moving on....
Lastly, my interests that I hardly have time to do
- I love adventures (when I have time for it at least)! This is probably why I am doing this project. I am spontaneous; I pretty much love anything to do with the outdoors. I love the Arts and being creative. I draw every now and then. I also play the guitar, a little drums, and percussion. I like many genres of music. I honestly never thought I would be a blogger, but I am really growing to love it. My wife has to pull me away from it most of the time!
"I am by no means perfect, as it is a daily battle to get up and choose to be joyful and not look at the past, or focus on the negatives. Every day we're faced with opportunities to get over ourself and serve others. Each encounter we have with someone is an opportunity to make a difference."
---Me
