My Biography & Testimony
If there has been one constant interest in my life, besides following God, it’s been music. There are many home videos of little baby me, unable to talk yet and barely able to walk, popping in a Gaither Vocal Band tape into the TV/VCR. I would clap my hands and stomp my feet, pacifier in mouth, doing my best to sing along to the deep rumble of George Younce’s booming bass voice. I can’t listen to an old recording of “This Old House” without being transported back to my parents’ bedroom, standing in front of their mirror and putting on a show to an imaginary audience of thousands.
Truly, even before that, there was a deep connection. As a newborn, I would cry inconsolably until my father would swoop me up, and sing “Something Beautiful”. I would immediately relax and drift off to sleep in his arms. At least that’s the story I’ve been told my whole life. You would be hard pressed to find a single time in my life where music wasn’t carrying me through all the highs and lows.
The church I grew up in was a bit different…no worship team or paid minister. We didn’t know who would preach, and if you claimed sanctification, there was a chance someone would ask you to bring the word. We all stood at the front and participated – singing, stomping, clapping. Acapella, not an instrument in sight.
So the prospect of being a Worship Leader was not even a concept in my mind. I didn’t know such a thing existed! Yet, even through this, I felt a pull to do more with music. When I was 11 or 12, I picked up a guitar and decided to learn to play. The first song I memorized was “Born Again” by Third Day. That became an anthem for me for a portion of my life. Every time I sat down with a guitar that song, with its basic chords, would flow from my fingers. Did it sound as good as the original? No. Did it even sound good? Sometimes, but that didn’t matter. I loved being able to play and sing a song and share it with anyone who would listen.
In high school, a friend I had grown up with passed away from Muscular Dystrophy. It was
a terribly difficult thing for everyone to process. He was so young, about a year younger than me, and he had a heart of pure gold. My cousin, David, woke up the morning after hearing about Cameron’s passing and had a song manifest in his mind. It was a song about leaning on Jesus through the most trying of times, even the loss of a dear life. He named it “Jesus Is The Answer” and he sent it to Cameron’s family.
A year later, I felt inspired to record the song for the family. With their permission and David’s, I recorded the song with full instrument backing and multiple vocal tracks. This was my first time trying to do anything of the sort but I felt a strong pull to finish the project in memory of my friend. The pull didn’t go away, even after finishing the project. I felt I had truly discovered my calling, making music to bring people closer to God and each other.
After I graduated high school, I heard a radio ad for open auditions for an organization called Actors, Models, and Talent for Christ (AMTC). I had recently written and recorded a song of my own and felt the pull again, to do more with my music. I auditioned in front of a couple of people at a hotel. I fully expected to get turned away. After I finished though I prayed a very specific prayer, for God to show me what he wanted me to do with this potential path for my life. It wasn’t long before that prayer was answered. AMTC asked me to come back to discuss next steps for joining them and getting some training to get into the music industry.
The next year was a whirlwind of travel back and forth from Raleigh to Atlanta, working with music industry professionals, and learning how to operate within one of the darkest parts of our society: entertainment. The fact I’m here today relating this story should tell you what the ultimate outcome of all of this was. I didn’t go very far from there. The reason though was more strange than I could have imagined.
A few months after I finished with AMTC, I felt a call to join the military, specifically the Air Force. It was a 180 degree pivot from what I, and my family, had expected but the call was loud and clear. It wasn’t long before I was on a plane to San Antonio, Texas for basic training with plans to be an airplane mechanic. This is really where I felt the hand of God take control and start a chain of events that couldn’t have been planned by any person. For medical reasons, the mechanic route got nixxed after I had completed training. That led to retraining as an ophthalmology technician.
In the military, a shift from a maintainer job to medical, without much time in service or any experience, is unheard of.
Beyond that, I got stationed at a base that was soon to be in need of a new worship leader. I was recruited to the worship team at the base chapel when a team member heard me sing the national anthem at a base function. I quickly took up the mantle as lead singer for the team and was groomed to be the next worship leader.
As I mentioned before, this was something I had never heard of. It definitely wasn’t something that I had been looking for, but once I was in the position, it was so incredibly clear that it was what all of this had been leading up to. I had found my place, singing songs to the Lord and helping to shepherd His flock. For medical reasons my time there was cut short and resulted in my retirement from the Air Force.
This brings me to now, right here in Cary/Apex at Trinity Community Church. Once I left the service I had a great desire to find a church to join as a worship leader and continue on the path made so clear to me throughout my life. Where will my path ultimately end? Obviously to a home in heaven, but while I’m here on earth, only the Lord knows. If there is one thing I’m sure of though, it’s that God and music will always be woven into every aspect of my life.