I am the second oldest of four brothers and three sisters. I’ve been married to my beautiful wife Stephanie for 21 years. We have five beautiful kids, aging from 27 down to 16. I am most certainly by desire and default a family man. I make it a point to keep myself involved in my kids’ lives. I’ve been a Peoria native all but 5 or so years of my life. There was a brief stint where my wife and I lived in Bloomington. I grew up on the south end of town with my mom (my biological parents were separated) until I was about six years old, when I went to live with my dad and stepmom. My dad was a serious church goer, which meant we were always at church. I’d always find him making statements like “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” which fortified church in our house. At some point our family branched away from the church we grew up in and my dad started his own church, which I’m certain is the building blocks of where and why I am today.

I won’t say I’ve always enjoyed church but the older I got and the more I understood how God fit in my life, the more things became clear, which sparked my involvement, hence drums and singing and anything else the church needed.

I’m super passionate about Jesus and am in constant pursuit of Him with the desire to be more like Him every day. I am far from perfect and am not ashamed to admit it but find myself reserved in letting people see how imperfect I am. I love the journey that I’ve been on and can’t see myself not doing life with Jesus. I love people and want to see everyone succeed in their life both personally and spiritually. I am an extravert with introvert tendencies. Meaning, I like having new friends but struggle sparking new friendships, I love to fellowship but am also just fine with staying at home. I don’t mind being a part of conversations but will shy away from starting them. 

A few things that I enjoy doing: I enjoy reading books that stimulate my thinking, I enjoy writing, I LOVE riding my Harley Davidson, and I enjoy traveling. But on the flipside of that, while I love my city, I can’t stand when it’s cold, I’d love to be somewhere that’s always warm, and I struggle to discipline myself to find time to do the things that I enjoy.