365 Days Until I Turn 30

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Exactly 29 years ago I was born in Frankfort, KY.  Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair, but it has been way more rich and rewarding than I could ever have anticipated.  While I expect that year 29 may be (one of) the most eventful years of my life, I want to take a very rushed moment to list some events that stand out in my life over these 29 years. 

• I remember a game of hide n’ go seek in my house with my family during a storm when I was just about 4 years old.  I had help, but I won several times.
• I remember being fascinated with Rocky IV and watching it over and over and over again when I was in kindergarten.  I still like to pretend like I am Rocky and the world is Ivan Drago.
• I remember my mother watching me perform WWF wrestling moves on pillows and dolls over and over and over again for a period of 3-4 years during elementary school.  She always watched and made me feel like I was a superstar and set the foundation for my very exaggerated healthy sense of confidence that I still call on today.
• I remember being devastated and stumped when the young mother of my best friend, Monte Berry, died of cancer when we were in early elementary school.
• I remember seeing a Major League baseball field for the very first time when I went to a Cincinnati Reds game @ Riverfront Stadium in 1986 and being in absolute awe of its size and being shocked at just how green and perfectly manicured the field was.  Eric Davis was the star of the team and was my hero for years.
• I remember running for Student Government Vice President in 7th grade and delivering my first speech in front of the student body.  I was hooked on speaking, politics, and leadership from then on out.
• I fondly remember my first job @ the hot, raggedy Dairy Queen the summer after 8th grade.  I loved working there with my great friend Lionel.  We worked full-time and were confident that we were nearly rich from all of the money we made.
• I remember my utter and complete brokenness when I discovered that my high school in Versailles, KY was completely segregated down racial lines and being forced by violence to pick one group to identify myself with.  Up until that point, I lived with one foot in two worlds.
• I remember getting caught my freshman year with three girlfriends when I took two of them to the same Homecoming dance.  I totally lost the one I really liked, pretty much lost the one I kind of liked, and ended up with the one that I hardly liked.  I never did that again!
• I have detailed the assault and harsh discrimination that I experienced elsewhere on this blog, but want to say that I remember the great love of my mother, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and close friends during the 1.5 years of school I missed recovering from surgeries and injuries.  I came out of that period with some brokenness, but also a strong foundation based on a family that loved me deeply.
• I remember very clearly opening up my heart to Jesus and the church when Rev. Willis Polk preached a powerful message about Jonah that convicted me that God had a real plan for my life.
• I remember the day in 1996 when I first saw the hot babe that would become my wife.  I thought she was so cute and spunky and wanted her to be my girlfriend right away.  I fought for the next few years to wrestle her away from another sorry guy that she liked and am glad to say that we’ve been together now for over 11 great years!
• I remember entering the ministry at the age of 17 by preaching my initial sermon (Jesus – The Problem Solver) in front of nearly 1000 people at the main service on Sunday morning.
• I remember Morehouse College being the only school that I applied for and people thinking I was crazy for putting all of my eggs in one basket.  I also remember the admissions team giving me a full scholarship (even though I didn’t meet the minimum requirements) for that very reason.  I still use this dangerous strategy to this day.
• I remember how hard I pretended to not be shocked when I won the Otis Moss Oratorical Contest @ Morehouse College my sophomore year.  Winning that contest in front of over 2500 students set me on a path that had me elected as the youngest Student Government President ever at Morehouse just two months later.
• I remember seeing poverty unlike anything my eyes had ever witnessed when I traveled to South Africa for a United Nations conference just days before 9/11.
• I remember delaying the shotgun wedding with my wife for two weeks when 9/11 threw the country into a tailspin.

UPDATE:: I have written all I have time to write…gotta run to class!  I love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and birthday wishes! I’d love to tell you about the birth of my children, my many near death experiences, my first pastoral employment, and much, much more.

God is good!