Mike’s Egypt [the old life]

Like most kids, I was born.

Fortunately I grew up surrounded with a wonderful family. There was lots of love and lots of moving. This was the moving order, for anyone interested:

(1986-1988) Tucson, AZ
(1988-1992) Houston, TX
(1992-1997) Fargo, ND
(1997-1998) Long Island, NY
(1998-2004) College Station, TX
(2004-2011) Sioux Falls, SD
(2011-present) Springfield, MO

{the first draft}

It was moving so frequently that helped me develop my outgoing and somewhat sarcastic attitude. (Humor as a defense mechanism is so much better than anger or awkwardness.) Each move helped me develop a stronger and stronger ability to talk to, and befriend, total strangers. It also led to my tendency to develop a wide breadth of friendships with only a slight few of them going far in the depth department. When you always assume you’ll be moving after a short time span, you have a tendency to avoid forging too strong of a friendship bond with many people.

Coincidentally, I found a strong counterpart in my wife, as she is typically shy around groups of people but establishes strong, deep and lasting connections with friends. The contrast of the two of us is always fascinating to me, for various reasons. But let’s refocus on my old life.

My formative years—if you consider junior high and high school to be formative—took place in College Station, Texas. It was there that I learned to speak my mind, enjoy warm weather and find a stronger interest in sports. And girls. Like I said, they were my formative years.

{the college experience}

After graduating from high school in Texas, I made the decision to move up to Sioux Falls, SD. My dad had taken the Men’s Basketball head coaching position at Augustana College, and it just made sense to go to a good private school with my family nearby. Most of my Texas friends were going to their respective schools anyway, so I didn’t have much to stick around for in College Station as it was.

College at Augie was great. I made friends with a lot of my dad’s basketball players as well as a wide variety of unbelievably great non-basketball players. I had the college experience that many college students can say they enjoyed as well. Some (or many) parties, some (or much) studying and some (or MANY) great stories and experiences to share—and later retell—with friends.

But something was missing. Amidst the hours spent writing papers and the nights spent with more than a few drinks in my system, I felt like I had been ignoring a voice that had been quietly calling my name all along. My mom would ask if I’d been going to church or any type of Bible studies. Freshman year, that answer had been “I haven’t found a church I like, but I’m hitting up some of the on-campus ministry groups that meet every week.” By my junior year, that answer had become “Still haven’t found a church I like (not that I’m even looking) and I don’t really care for many of those on-campus ministry groups (not that I’ve been to one in the past year and a half).”

{spiritually drowning}

Spiritually, I was gasping for air but was suffocating as a result of my surroundings. It was a feeling I’d never experienced. And while I didn’t like it (in fact, at times, I hated the feeling), I wasn’t doing much to change it. Life was “fine,” and I didn’t see much of a reason to change it.

Even after college, this attitude persisted. Life was “fine.” I knew God was out there waiting for me, but I didn’t want to give up a “fine” life for the hard work it took to be a “good” Christian.

Yet each night when I went to sleep, I prayed that I’d wake up in the morning. Not because I was excited to continue living my “just fine” life, but because I wasn’t sure where I’d wind up if my time on earth ran out. It was terrifying, but I wasn’t strong enough to put my terror into action.

I was treading water. And the shore was nowhere in sight.

I needed a change. Desperately.

Click here to read the Exodus from my Egypt.

© 2010 Storming Jericho {All Rights Reserved}