I grew up in Yukon, Oklahoma, I was raised in a Christian family. Dad, mother, my two sisters and brother attended church regularly. I’m one that has been twice dunked “baptismally speaking”. I was baptized at age 8 but was not certain until age 12 that I needed salvation and asked Jesus Christ into my heart. I accepted Jesus as my personal savior while attending a James Robinson crusade in Del City, Oklahoma. Yep, I got baptized again and have never doubted since. After graduating from Yukon High School, I joined the United States Marine Corps.

I met my wife, Maria, at the Marine Corps celebration of it’s 200^th birthday (USMC was established in 1776). The USO invited many of the Los Angeles college girls to the birthday bash and chartered several buses to transport the ladies 150 miles out to the desert base. With wild-eyed wonder, the Marines watched as approximately 200 girls in their formal dresses entered the pavilion and lined up against the wall. I spotted this beautiful Hispanic girl immediately and as fate had it she wandered by my table where I stood up and gave her my chair. I then stole a chair from another Marine and pulled it up beside hers and then I began a conversation with Maria. Maria and I hit it off immediately, she was a college freshman majoring in nursing and I was a lonely Marine stationed out in the desert. Maria was a native Californian who had never been to DisneyLand and so I asked her out to Disney and she accepted. From there our relationship began.

After I finished my hitch in the Marines and Maria graduated from college, we got married. Maria began her nursing career immediately while it took me some time to get a college degree in computer science, and another degree in electronics. We didn’t let work and college get in the way of having a family and it wasn’t too long before we had a baby girl. Not wasting any time we had a baby boy 15 months later. Our two kids are grown, both college graduates. Our daughter, Alyssa, is a school teacher, and our son Brent is an aspiring screenwriter.

I’ve always loved to sing and at an early age while attending a Baptist youth camp, I surrendered to the music ministry. Singing in the choir was the extent of my ministry until East Sherman Baptist Church asked me to be their worship leader. It’s an honor for me to serve my Lord and East Sherman Baptist Church in leading the worship services. My favorite hymn is “When We All Get To Heaven” and my favorite praise is “I Can Only Imagine”. My favorite Bible verse is Psalms 86:5 “For thou Lord are good and ready to forgive and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee”.