My Story

My Story Part One

Where Have I Been?

If you are looking at this page, you, for some reason want to know more about where I came from. Well, I grew up in a small town in Northwest Kansas on a farm. That's right... I am a farmboy at heart. Please don't equate farmboy with hick. Farms today are more advanced and complicated than many industries. Most farmers are knowledgable in chemistry, horticulture, operations management, engine repair, machine operation, finance, accounting, commodities, etc. You get the point. Anyway... that was just to prove my point that farmers don't have to be hicks.

Growing up I decided I probably never wanted to be a farmer. I thought it took way to much effort for way to little return. I'll always have a special place in my heart for the farm though. I will also always have a special place in my heart for small towns. I am who I am today because of the wonderful home I had but also because of the environment of a small town.

I grew up going to church at the First United Methodist Church in Hoxie, Kansas. Pretty much went because my Mom took me. When I got to Junior High I started going to a JH Youth Group with all my friends from another church. As a result of this group I started to understand what it meant to live for Jesus. I had known for a long time that Jesus died on the cross for my sins and that I needed to ask for forgiveness of those sins but I really didn't understand what implications that had on everyday life. I thought if I followed the 10 commandments then everything else would be hunky dory. Well... that is a good start but come to find out about 7 years later there is much more to it.

In high school I continued to go to Youth Group but it was more of a social gathering than anything else. I pretty much quit going to church except for holidays and a few other occasions. I played football, wrestled and ran track during school and worked for my dad in the summer along with being a lifeguard. Pretty normal except I didn't drink, not one sip all four years of high school. I personally think it is sad that drinking to get drunk is normal among high school students. However, high school was a pretty spiritually dry time in my life. I had sin in my life that I didn't want to deal with so I pushed God away so i wouldn't feel convicted.

I really enjoyed high school actually... most of my classmates couldn't wait to leave but I knew I would miss it. And I did... for awhile... 'til I realized how awesome college was. However... college really wasn't that awesome my freshman year. I hated my classes and it showed in my grades.

Even though I will always consider Hoxie my home... I don't know if I could ever live there again. At least not for awhile.

Many big decisions were made during high school about my future... among them was to attend Kansas State University and join the Air Force ROTC. I also chose to major in Computer Engineering (the reason why my freshman year was not that fun), which was NOT COOL!

I'll post part two later on this week.

- footprints of Chad, 9:18 PM

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Colorado Trip

Vail is an amazing place! I love being in Colorado! I went to vail this past weekend to visit some friends of mine and do some camping. Last summer I lived in Vail for two months. I was on a summer mission project with Campus Crusade for Christ and it was absolutely amazing. But that is another story for another time.

I went to Vail this weekend with three other friends and we met up with 3 people we new who are living in Vail this summer. It was a really good time. The four of us from Kansas camped out near Vail Friday and Saturday night. Saturday morning we hiked up to Booth Falls. It is a 60 foot water fall about 2 miles north of Vail on a very beautiful hiking trail. I had been there 3 times before but it was just as amazing and exilerating this time as the first three.

Saturday afternoon we went swimming in the indoor pool where my friends are living. Good times. That evening we wanted to ride the Gondola up to the top of Vail mountain but somebody was having a wedding at the top of the mountain and nobody was allowed to go up unless you had an invitation. I can't even begin to imagine how much it would cost to rent the top of Vail Mountain for a day to have a wedding. I am guessing well over six figures.

So instead of going to the top of the mountain we went to Beaver Creek which is by Avon just down the road from Vail and ate dinner at the Coyote Cafe. After dinner three of us decided to go ice skating at the rink in the center of Beaver Creek. I hadn't been ice skating in a long time and the last time I went was in a small rink in Manhattan, KS that left little to be desired. I can now say that I went ice skating on the first day of summer! It wasn't cold. I was in a t-shirt and shorts. The people that didn't skate and just watched got cold watching. It was probably in the upper 40's.

Sunday we got up early and left for Kansas because some of the guys had an 11 hour drive in front of them to get home. It was a great weekend and it was awesome seeing old friends. This coming weekend I am going to Kansas City to see all my friends and family on the east end of the state before I leave for Keesler AFB in Mississippi.

I report for duty on the 22nd of July and I am quite excited. I feel very blessed however to have all this time to visit friends and family before I leave for two years. God is good.

- footprints of Chad, 7:42 PM
 

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