Paul’s Story

The truth of the matter, if you are weak, you are in a good spot. That may sound off, but that plain fact remains, your weakness can be your strength. As a former computer guy, turned, pastor, weakness has often been my resting place. I was going to study software engineering at Auburn. Through a series of steps and procedures which I can only attribute to God, I ended up 700 miles away at a small Bible college where I met my wife, learned a new language, and learned that Christ calls us to a journey, not a destination on earth.
Fast forward from 2000, where I had relearned how to walk, talk, read, and write. After the first bleed, I thought that was the end. Instead, it became to launching point which God used to place me in the next phase, namely pastor. I was the head pastor of Rocky Head Baptist Church for 5 years (rockyhead.com). After the unexpected ups and downs any church should expect as it is chasing after God. Then unexpectedly in 2010 another bleed occurred. This time, it was less significant as instead of my head filling up with blood, the cranial blood vessel ruptured only in the spot which gave the doctors a clear view of the path to the leaky spot.
I went through an abbreviated rehab in home and then began serving the church family I was given charge over yet again. Yet there was a nagging feeling that God still had plans for me beyond what was occurring at the time. It turns out He always does as “…just as it is written, ‘things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’” 1 Corinthians 2:9, NASB For the duration of the church I was flawed but He was faithful, and God provided time after time beyond what our rural community congregation could have expected. 
After this my family was able to move to Lynchburg, VA for me to finish my education. I worked as a help desk technician for 5 years to get my educational specialist degree leading into the doctorate of education. I had assumed based on former advising from the departmental advisers that the admission into the doctoral program was automatic for those who completed the Eds. I was wrong. As a result, my intellectual deficiencies in short term memory led me to lose that position after 5 years of faithful service. Now, having lost vision in the right eye and peripheral from the left, I am left home bound, with a single income, and an extremely faithful Savior and spouse caring for the externals. The nagging question I have is not of fear nor trepidation but expectation. Our family’s been through the horrors of surgery and God proved faithful. So now, on to the next leg of the journey. Blessings as you go!