a piece of my Story

In August of 2003, I had what I could best refer to as a "spiritual awakening". I was working part time in a health club, living back at home with my parents, 26 years old and not really motivated to do much, other than get together and play music with different friends in the hopes of becoming the next Pavement, Modest Mouse or At the Drive-in.

On one such occasion, I was despairing slightly of life, and asked my friend Judd why he kept at it - living. He replied with sincerity, that he believed that God had a plan for his life. That sounded interesting to me, probably mostly because I held Judd in high regard, but I had a few questions for him and Judd answered satisfactorily, so I headed home to my parents' and started reading the Bible, specifically the Gospel of John.

It was like I had never heard it before, and maybe I hadn't.

I read about how God sent his Son Jesus to earth to save us, that he died for us and that by believing in him we could be made right with God. I couldn't believe that I had never understood before how important it all was.

Some changes happened in my life.

I started talking to people about what Jesus had done (for me and for them), and one such person was a co-worker at the health club, who I ended up marrying about a year later. Heather and I started getting together one afternoon a week to run in Gordon Woods and talk. I hadn't been running much, and she was in the middle of marathon training, so mostly I was huffing and puffing and then talking when we stopped. One afternoon run together a week soon became two, and we also started attending church together and making time to see each other when it was and wasn't convenient.

After I became a Christian, I was free to try and fail without fear, and that was manifest in new successes with my running, my work (I had previously been notorious for quitting jobs with no notice, not a popular practice among employers) and my relationships.

I've been living for about fourteen years in a relationship with Jesus. What I mean by that is that I cherish Him (usually), and strive to put Him first (sometimes), and try to bring Him into the day-to-day experiences I'm having by talking to Him about it (often quite clumsily or only with reminders).

During the same time period I've experienced greater joys in my earthly life than I ever imagined. I married Heather and got to become a part of her family's godly legacy. I have seen members of my immediate family become followers of Christ. I have been blessed with four healthy children: Benjamin, Grace, Emma and Rebekah (at least one of whom I hope will run collegiately and/or professionally). With God's help, I have achieved greater (but still modest by most standards) successes with my running than I ever imagined.

In July 2012, I was given a tremendous opportunity to coach year-round (cross-country, indoor and outdoor track) at Gordon College, a Christian liberal arts college in Wenham, MA. I truly cherished having the chance to encourage student-athletes in their faith, their studies and their pursuit of athletic excellence. In August 2015, I left what I had once considered my "dream job" and returned to construction.

In July 2016, my dad and I started Marathon Home Care of New England, LLC, to serve seniors on the north shore in their homes.

I've also spent a lot of time the past couple years struggling as a runner, a husband, a dad and a Christian and learning to trust God in new ways. Some of the language used by Christian authors and even in the Bible itself have stirred up some real unease in me and have forced me to examine more closely what I believe about God. With His help,