Dream Big
Focus on the solution instead of the problem.
Catherine and I got married.
It was very hard working and trying to raise a mixed family.
My dad died of a heart attack.
I felt really hurt and abandoned.
I lost my best friend and my life mentor.
I witnessed the fatality of one of our employees.
After several weeks of deep mourning and feeling helpless, unable to function…
My dad, mom, and I were a very close loving family. We worked hard together building our own log cabin by hand with the help of other family and friends in the late 1970's in upstate New York. In the mid- 80's, my parents were introduced to Christianity, which brought our family closer together in faith. They also started their own Amway business, working to a very high level which took them away from home often and traveling to speak at conferences. I was left behind and dropped off at a cousin's house a lot.
When I was in my teens, we moved away from the country life and the cabin to the village of Brownville, New York. I had to switch schools and was separated from all my friends and family. It was a big change, and I had to try to fit in.
I started out with wrestling and "pumped iron" to gain size and strength so I could play football. Although I enjoyed the sports, it
wasn't enough to keep me in school. I dropped out in 11th grade. I started working at a snowplow job at age 16, soon deciding I wanted to someday own my own business. I met and married a girl by the time I was 18, which ended in divorce soon after.
In the mid-90’s, my grandmother introduced me to a girl who made me feel needed. She already had a little boy. We married and had a baby girl together. This marriage also ended in a horrible divorce. After this, I didn't want to have anything to do with women at all.
God had a different thing planned. Soon after, in 2000, I met Catherine. We began dating. I started a business partnership with a friend, working two jobs. This was very demanding and stressful. My dad had taught me to dream big and focus on the solution instead of the problem. Catherine and I got married in 2004, mixing our families together, me and my daughter, and her with her three. It was very hard working and trying to raise a mixed family, but we had a good supportive family. My mom and dad were living a faithful life when in the winter of 2005, out of nowhere, my mom found out that she had breast cancer. My dad and I were devastated. It was a hard three years, and she finally passed in 2008. They never gave up on the Lord and kept believing, but I became very angry from losing her. Her dad, my grandpa, also was never the same after losing her. He died in 2010, adding to my sorrow.
If that was not enough, my dad died of a heart attack the next year. With both parents gone and losing them so close together, I felt hurt and abandoned. My dad had worked for me and with me in the business from the beginning, so I lost my best friend and my life mentor.
Within three years of this, in August of 2014, I witnessed the fatality of one of our employees. This "industrial accident" scared me that I could lose everything that I had worked so hard for. Even more than this was the guilt I felt for the loss caused to his wife and three children.
At his calling hours, one of his relatives cared enough for my suffering
to give me a little smooth stone of faith. It reminded me of David and Goliath, giving me the faith that God could help me get through this and that nothing is too big for God. After several weeks of deep mourning and feeling helpless, unable to function, our Heavenly Father gave us a mission statement to direct our path. No man showed it to us, but it was truly led by the Holy Spirit. That mission statement was:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and seek Him first, praying, leading, and walking in faith. Lean on the Lord for all your needs. Always love and honor the whole family of God. Stand in good health. Keep in balance over the flesh. Remember your roots and pray for the leaders and never forget our countrymen. The purpose is to focus on the right High Way! Amen!
By the next month, Catherine's dad, my father-in-law, Harold, gave us several faith-based DVDs, which began a life-changing relationship for me with the Lord. I felt a very strong conviction to be baptized in the river, even though it was very cold outside and I was really sick. This commitment to the Lord helped me to dedicate my life, my family, and my business completely to my Heavenly Father. We realized we couldn't do it by ourselves any more. Now through all of this and Harold's persistence and obedience to God, I realize that God's hand is always with us. We have been so blessed in every way ever since.