About Me

I was born in Glen Dale, WV, raised in Gaithersburg, MD, and currently live in Concord, NC. I met my wife, Julia, in Sarasota, FL during summer break after my sophomore year in college. Upon graduation we got hitched, and I began to minister in different areas from Moundsville, WV to Saltillo, TN. Soon after my wife gave birth to our first child, I began to have burning in my feet and a shock down my spine when I would tuck my chin, but I ignored the symptoms and carried on with life as usual for six months. However, my symptoms got increasingly worse. I began to “drag leg,” lose my balance, have muscle weakness, difficulty standing, tingling in my hands, bladder issues, and a host of other problems. After sleeping on the couch for 3 months in discomfort, I finally set an appointment with a family Dr. Though she was reluctant, I convinced her to schedule an MRI. The MRI came back abnormal with several areas of inflammation (lesions) on my brain. At this point, I knew I was in serious trouble, and with a wife, one child, and another one on the way I was concerned for their futures as well. My Dr. then scheduled an MRI on my spinal cord, and it lit up with inflammation on the MRI like a well decorated Christmas tree. I was then able to see a general neurologist who broke the unfortunate news “you have Multiple Sclerosis.” I wanted to see a Multiple Sclerosis specialist, so I went to Cleveland Clinic and my diagnosis was confirmed on March 4, 2014. I received three days of IV steroids to help “cool off” my lesions, began taking Tecfidera to prevent future attacks, and continued to minister while hiding my condition. However, Tecfidera didn’t prevent me from attacks, and I had two more attacks over a six month period that led to more lesions on my brain. With uncertainty looming about my heath and our future, my wife and I decided to move to Concord to live closer to family while my health stabilized. After moving to Concord, I began taking Tysabri but didn’t feel like it was working for me, and I may have had a small breakthrough that allowed 1 or 2 very small lesions. This prompted me to start taking Rituxan which has worked wonderfully (I have not had any new lesions for 4 years and counting). Frustrated by a lack of good Christian resources to help cope with pain and suffering, I decided to commit myself to a more focused ministry and launched this website. It is my hope that this website will be a tremendous resource and support system for Christian sufferers and their family and friends.