The "Homecoming King" (a.k.a. me) was preparing for college. Even though I applied to multiple colleges, I only had one on my mind to attend and that was Longwood College (now Longwood University) located in Farmville, Virginia. Colleen who was my girlfriend at that time (but is now my wife), had already been accepted into Longwood and was already attending a year ahead of me, so I had no intention of going anywhere else for college. Thankfully though, Longwood accepted me and I knew exactly what I wanted to be: a Biology/Earth Science teacher.
I recall attending orientation prior to my freshman year of college starting up and I met with my Academic Adviser in the Biology Department (since I had already declared my major). I sat in her office and we were reviewing the classes I was going to take my first year. One of the classes was Chemistry. As soon as I heard that I asked if I had to take Chemistry to major in Biology. The Adviser said "yes". Then I remember saying, "Then I am not majoring in Biology. I hated Chemistry in high school and I am not going to take that again." My Adviser then suggested I give it a year to make my final decision and in the meantime I could hold off taking Chemistry. I agreed but by the end of my freshman year I changed my major to Computer Science with a Minor in Mathematics. I actually didn't even know what Computer Science was, I just figured since I was good at using computers, this would be a good fit for me. Interestingly, I also was pursuing Biology since I didn't want to take many more math courses in college and I ended up taking three years of Calculus plus other advanced math. Funny how plans change so quickly and you end up heading in a direction you didn't expect or plan. Go figure!
Not only was heading in a direction I didn't plan with respect to my Academics surprise me, my popularity status I obtained in high school also changed significantly. See, when one gets to college, there are a lot more "Homecoming Kings" (and the like) and what ends up happening is they sometimes end up competing to maintain that position. Well I realized early on that I wasn't going to compete for popularity, so I pursued a career in the Resident Technology Associate (RTA) program. From that decision moving forward, I was dethroned from the world's perspective. I officially became a computer geek. I lived and breathed everything about computers and programming. It turned out well overall though. I met a lot of great people since I was a computer technician for the dorms I lived in and I also met a lot of great people on staff at Longwood which gave me many professional opportunities I never would have had if I hadn't pursued the RTA program. The RTA program also helped pay for half of my college bill since they paid for room and board! So it wasn't a poor move professionally, however socially I had to get adjusted.
I recall many times I would go to a persons room to fix their computer (anytime between 2pm and midnight 5-6 days a week). Sometimes it would take a lot of time to fix the issue at hand so I had the opportunity to talk with students quite a bit. We would some how get to talking about our high school days and begin sharing the good times we had. Many times I would share that I was voted as Homecoming King and to my surprise, my college peers were really shocked to hear this. See they only saw me as the "computer geek" or "computer nerd" and how could this type of person be voted as Homecoming King. One really funny moment I remember was when I was fixing a computer of a female who lived on my hall (yes, Longwood has COED dorms to include COED halls). Like others I had visited to work on their computer, we began talking about high school. It got to a point where I mentioned I was voted Homecoming King and the girl said, "What!?! YYYOOOUUU were HOMECOMING KING!?! NO WAY! I DON"T BELIEVE YOU!" I tried to assure her I wasn't lying however she would not believe me. It got to the point that the only way to prove to her I wasn't lying was to show her my Senior Yearbook which had several pictures of me being crowned Homecoming King. I finally realized at that moment that I was no longer the HOMECOMING KING and I had been dethroned by my peers. At first it kind of bothered me, but honestly I soon got over it.
It was a good thing I did get over it since what came next was even a bigger deal. See, I had already been dethroned by the world (e.g., my peers), however I still tried to remain "king" within my heart. I continued to serve myself and my wants and desires. College years brought a lot of great academic and professional opportunities, however they also brought many years of corruption to my life. I am ashamed to admit some of the things I did and took part in. Being away from home and living on your own can make or break you. From the outside, it appeared I was making it. I had good grades. I had a good job. I had a good social network. However on the inside, I was breaking apart. The internal breaking apart started to manifest itself externally during my last year in college (2002). Unlike high school when my last year ended with me being on top of the world and being crowned to the Homecoming King THRONE, my last year of college resulted in me being DETHRONED, only this was not only by my peers!
You see, during the summer of 2002, I was working a full time job and taking two night classes so I could graduate a semester early in December 2002. I began to experience extreme nausea at times when going out to eat. This issue continued off and on but I kept pushing forward. The fall semester started back up and I continued living the corrupt life I was living previously in my earlier college years although on the outside, it seemed things were really well. However the nausea started to come back and with a vengeance. I finally mentioned my health issues to my mom since I was no longer able to eat. I lost 30 pounds in 3 months and anyone knows when you lose that much weight that fast without meaning too, something could be seriously wrong.
Well, I ended up going to doctor after doctor, however nobody could figure out what was wrong with me. After several tests and procedures, I finally realized I was seeking the wrong kind of help! One weekend I decided to go home. On that Saturday night, I talked to my mom about going to church to have my Grandfather (who was my pastor), anoint me and pray for a healing. This is based out of James 5:14-15 which states, "Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." Even though I was not a Christian in my heart, I still professed with my mouth that I was. I had grown up in my Grandfather's church and I knew that I was not living as God's Word said I should. I also had never actually repented of my sins which means to ask Jesus for forgiveness with a plan to change my ways. However, because I did know the truth, I knew that I had to seek God for answers with my health, not man (even though God uses man to help people). I had tried man and man had failed me. Who I really needed was Jesus Christ!
However even then I was still not seeking Jesus Christ, I just wanted to be ME again. I wanted to be active. I wanted to be able to eat without getting sick. I wanted to be healed in my body without being healed in my spirit. So I went to church that next Sunday, which also happened to be the same day as Colleen's birthday and the day I asked Colleen to marry me (November 17, 2002). We went to church and at the end of the service, I went to the front of the church to be anointed and prayed for. However I received more than I was expecting. I ended up repenting of my sins! I pleaded to God to forgive me for my wrongs and to please heal my body! I recall after being prayed for by the elders, a lady by the name of Clara Weedon, came up to me and said, "Welcome to the Family!" I will never forget that moment. I came to church seeking to continue to be like I wanted to be ("king" of my own heart), however I left being DETHRONED in heart and having Jesus Christ reign as KING OF MY LIFE! On that day I actually joined the KINGDOM OF GOD spiritually where instead of me being KING, I was a SERVANT FOR THE KING! What a glorious day that was! Being DETHRONED from my sinful pride was actually the best thing that could have ever happened to me! Furthermore, from that one decision to repent and ask for Jesus to come into my heart would end up changing my life forever and also affecting some very special people I didn't even know about in the years to come!
This all goes to show that the Bible is very true when it says, "For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living" (Romans 14:7-9).
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