The Day Everything Changed
In 2002, during my senior year of high school, I experienced what I then thought was my greatest challenge. I had befriended a new transfer student, wanting to make him feel welcome in our small town. On a snowy November day, while we were out hunting on my family ranch, the unthinkable happened.
I was in the best physical shape of my life, preparing for my senior wrestling season. In a split second, that reality came crashing down when my "friend" discharged a rifle behind me. A searing pain shot through my hip; I had been shot.
The Physical vs. Mental Battle
Miraculously, I survived. Not only did I survive, but I was cleared to wrestle just over a month later. In my first dual back, I pinned the top-ranked wrestler in the state in just 30 seconds. I felt on top of the world.
However, the physical injury wasn't the true defeat. The real damage was what I allowed that event to do to me mentally. The individual who shot me began to brag about the incident, and I later learned he had a history that should have kept him away from firearms entirely. I allowed his actions to get inside my head, making me feel less than. That trauma, left unprocessed, sparked a twenty-year downward spiral of bad choices, guilt, and a massive struggle with addiction.
The Path to Redemption
By August of 2024, the weight of those two decades finally broke me. After a devastating personal failure, I realized I didn't just need a quick fix—I needed a complete reset.
I entered a 90-day program at the Volunteers of America Northern Rockies (VoANR) in Sheridan, Wyoming. It was there that I found what I had been missing my entire life: a relationship with Jesus Christ.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." — John 14:6
A Message of Hope
Today, I look back at my journey and see the miraculous ways I have been saved from harm. If you are struggling with trauma, addiction, or anything that prevents you from living a productive life, I urge you to seek help.
The Holy Spirit led me to a place of healing, and I pray that you find the strength to tackle the "defeat" in your own life. You can come out triumphant, productive, and whole.
In Jesus' name, AMEN.