My Story:
I was naturally a very happy and extroverted child, and being particularly sensitive while growing up in a rigid, strict, religious environment eventually left me unable to connect with myself, others, or God in authenticity or vulnerability.
With nowhere better to turn, I escaped to dysfunctional, addictive behaviors that eventually began to take over my life and ruin my most cherished relationships. When I finally began to seek freedom from these behaviors, I instinctively returned to the performance-driven mechanisms that caused me to turn to them in the first place, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never seem to do good enough. My addictive behaviors only escalated, and my felt need to perform for God only grew worse. One day I began to grow very very tired.
Fortunately, I finally found myself in the care of some compassionate men who saw exactly what was happening, and invited me to a completely new way of living and relating. Learning how to connect in authenticity and vulnerability turned out to be a very challenging process.
I could not have done it alone, without the unconditional love and enduring grace from these men who had a tremendous capacity to love me so well. One day a transformative thought began to enter my body: If these men could love me so patiently and graciously even though I have not “done well at all” by my religious standards, then it only makes sense that God could love me this way too.
My Passion:
Today, I am deeply passionate about helping men imagine new ways of relating to themselves, others, and God. Ways that are not based on behavioral performance, believing the right set of doctrines, or feigning certainty about impossibly mysterious things in order to regulate the temperament of an ego-driven, easily offended God.
From my own experience, I believe with all my heart that with the right guidance and support, healing and wholeness are possible for every man who is ready and willing to take the adventure of living authentically, loving and being loved unconditionally, and connecting with one another wholeheartedly.