Many of us live our lives just trying to get by, fitting in with the world until our time here is done. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I too was living this way—without knowing I had any higher purpose. In 2001, I started out in optics in Columbus, Ohio. Continuing to work in the field of optics took our family to Illinois and then to Florida, working for many of the big name companies in the industry.

One day, one encounter, one God changed everything I lived for. In April 2016, I earned a degree in Leadership and Ministry from Ohio Christian University and was sure I would continue in secular business using my improved leadership skills. God had other plans. He called me into ministry and I was ordained as a pastor in 2016.

In 2017, I left the optical industry to become a pastor at the church I attended. My family and I were fully involved in our local church and then God gave us a word for 2018. Go. No other word could be scarier to hear—especially not knowing where we were being told to go or why.

When you choose to follow God in faith, like Abraham did, you will surely face many trials and struggles like we encountered on our move out west to Arizona. It has always been a dream to have my own optical company producing high-quality, stylish sunglasses. God has been preparing me my whole life for this, especially since I began in the industry in 2001.

As it says in Esther 4:14, it is for such a time as this that I have been given the opportunity to pursue this passion. It’s all in God’s timing and as I look back, I stand in awe of what God has done in my life and in the lives of my family.

I’m truly blessed and highly anticipating the stories that all of you will share about how God is using you to be a Waymaker for His Kingdom and making a difference in the lives of the lost for all of eternity—simply by wearing a pair of glasses and opening up conversations with perfect strangers to share the story of how God has changed your life and made you a Waymaker.