What Kept Me Here

After I left Hershey's, it seemed I was back to square one. Only this time, I had a lot more invested into Oklahoma, so I was not as willing to just pick up and move to Canada. I love the life that I have started for myself in Oklahoma, and I am not very keen on the idea of leaving it all behind (atleast not anytime soon). Over the previous years, I have gotten really involved in Edmond and Oklahoma City, and I have made a lot of good relationships. Two of the relationships that I have made at the church would have been enough to keep me around on their own.

The first is Douglas Paul Young. Doug is the young adult pastor at the church and one of my new closest friends. He is, without a doubt, the main reason I stayed with my church. The story of how we met is an entire blog in itself and will be told another day. Doug was kind enough to take me under his wing when I arrived to Edmond, and he was gracious enough to counsel me through a lot of habits that I still struggled with from high school and college. He also struggled with similar problems and knew how hard it was to overcome them, so he never once judged me for my actions but showed a love for me through every conversation that I now use in my own ministry (a description for this kind of love will also be told in another blog). He was an encouragement of my faith the entire time I was restructuring my life, and he still continues to be an accountability partner in my current Christian walk.

The second relationship was Bonnie Louis Whitaker (also a story for another blog). At the time I left Hershey's, Bonnie and I had already been dating for over five months, and she was becoming one of my best friends. There has always been something special about Bonnie that has intrigued me from the beginning of our relationship. It's not just the fact that she is beautiful, but she has a certain spirit and charisma around her that is extremely contagious. It's hard to describe her uniqueness in a few sentences, but those who have ever met Bonnie for more than an instant know exactly what I'm talking about. What ever it is, she makes me want to be a better person, and regardless of how we end up, I am blessed for our time together.

There are many other friendships and good acquaintances that I have created in Oklahoma and hopefully many more to come. When I reflect on What Kept Me Here, its not the fact that I am occupationally happy, or that I love Oklahoma (I think my last blog made that clear). It's the relationships that I have found and the people that surround me that make me happy, and being happy is enough to keep me around.