Like so many in the Southeast, I was reared in a church-going family by a dad who was a deacon and a mom who was a Sunday School teacher in a Southern Baptist church.  In other words, I spent most of my free time growing up going to church.  Fortunately, God was able to overcome a commitment to church-y things and get me to fall in love with him when I was almost 19 years old. 

Not long after that, I started school at Baptist College at Charleston (now Charleston Southern University) where I was lucky enough to out-maneuver the many guys vying for Marjorie McGrew's attention.  She tells me she liked me because I was intelligent and sincere.  I think she liked the car I was driving (a 1980 Pontiac 6000 with an inferiority complex).  But we were married on a beautiful, cloudless winter day in 1989. It was the second best day of my life!

Two beautful daughters followed.  Thankfully they have their mother's beauty and aren't saddled with my terrible choice in sporting teams (Braves, Panthers, & the Gamecocks).  Elizabeth, the oldest, graduated from South Pointe High School in 2010 and is attending College of Charleston.  She likes the same music I do (Switchfoot, Reliant K, U2, Hazardous Pedestrians) and has a habit of showing up to root for Jeff Gordon with me on Sunday afternoons.  Victoria is in high school and shares my taste in and love for movies (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, The Emperor's New Groove, Alice in Wonderland).  She also enjoys destroying me in a game of Disney SceneIt on Saturday evenings.  She's ruthless!  Both share my taste in authors (J.K. Rowling, Cornelia Funke, C.S. Lewis, Lois Lowry).  We also have three pet hedgehogs, two cats and a guinea pig who is training for the next G-Force movie. 

My family has lived in Charlotte, NC and Greer, SC where I served as Minister to Students.  After spending three years on staff as Minister to Young Adults, I moved to the position of Minister to Senior Adults and Missions in May, 2010.