I grew up near Charlotte, attended the University of South Carolina, was in politics for years there, but recently moved to the Tampa Bay area where I’m working in marketing for local businesses.

Your question about bragging about God in my story really takes me back about a decade.  My family has had some health issues, primarily as it relates to the heart.  In fact, heart related disease has been the number one cause of death in the world.  So, when my dad had to have a valve replacement, that situation was a factor that played a part in my story that I’ll share in a bit.  Dad was heading to the operating room and there was a switch at the last minute with the operating surgeon. Though that last minute switch seemed like a backup quarterback taking the place of the starter, this Doctor was no backup.  After opening my dad up, the doctor and his team realized that the scar tissue had grown to his sternum that could’ve ripped out my dad’s heart, but this “backup” doctor had seen this situation before whereas the original doctor didn’t.  My dad was able to be fixed.  If that’s not divine intervention, I don’t know how to define it!

Then we moved forward a decade to me.  When I was 44 years old, I had heart issues like my dad and grandfather.  I had a heart attack (grandfather too) and had 4 blocked arteries which was a 95% blockage.  I was in a life threatening situation and needed open heart surgery ASAP.  Though I knew it wouldn’t be easy, I had faith in the good Lord that He was there with my dad and would also be there with me too!

This was a pivotal moment in my life as it forced me to examine my existence, where I’ve been and where I’m going to go. For those who don’t know what it’s like, I can remember at 3 am that it was just me, the nurse and the good Lord!  That’s why I think it’s so important to put your faith in Jesus Christ.  Let Him be your guiding factor in life.  Growing up in the Church (attending) is fine, but you need to put action into what you’ve been taught.  Gary, you shared it best with the verse in Matthew 7:24-27

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

It’s not just good enough to go to Church and believe in God, your actions need to follow as well.  These health issues I dealt with motivated me to examine myself, especially on the personal level.  You can listen to my video interview where I talk more about my upbringing, what I currently do and a few more details of my story.  Please let me know how I can help you and please connect with me too on LinkedIn as well.

My Advice

The following quote exemplifies the pillars of character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty.

“The foundation stones for a balanced and successful life are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love, and loyalty.”
Zig Ziglar

My belief and trust in God, my character, and my integrity have served well at every phase of my life and continue to make me who I am. My advice is to do the same and never give up. You can only lose if you quit.

As Winston Churchill said “Success is defined as going from one failure to another without a loss of enthusiasm. You will learn from failure and be successful and well-received.”