MY STORY
Nothing can separate us.
Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For me, God's love is not an impersonal force. It describes how God relates to me — personally, persistently, without condition.
For decades, I held that truth as information. I knew the passages. I preached the sermons. But knowing and believing had never become experiencing. I lived inside a box of 8 crayons, somehow convinced the box of 64 wasn't for me.
THE TURNING POINT
The turning point came when I crashed my life.
I had been married for over 30 years. I was father to three grown children. I had served as a minister for over 30 years. Then, in July 2017, I was arrested in a prostitution sting. Coming to the end of myself opened a door I hadn't known was there.
In a holding cell after my arrest, I sat on a cold concrete bench with my back against the wall. About 15 other men were there with me, waiting to be processed. My mind swirled in chaos. Life as I had known it was over.
Out of that chaos, clear words came:
I'm not mad at you. I've never been mad at you.
This is your opportunity for escape.
The door cracked open, and love rushed in.
THE JOURNEY
Recovery. Direction. Radical acceptance.
The journey continued through 12-step recovery, which I started immediately after my arrest — taking responsibility for my sex addiction. From the first meeting, recovery felt like radical acceptance. When a room of fellow addicts reached out to me without flinching, I experienced something beyond human warmth. I experienced God's acceptance coming through the most unlikely of vessels.
A spiritual director also became essential to the journey. He acts as a second set of eyes — pointing to things I might have missed, asking if they're worth attention. He never decides for me. He points; I choose. That kind of companionship — one that respects your agency while expanding your awareness — has been irreplaceable.
TODAY
Nothing can separate us.
Today, I know in my head and feel in my heart that God loves and accepts me completely, just as I am. Not because I achieved something, but because I lost everything — and found I couldn't be separated from God's presence even there.
My story is that nothing — nothing I've done, nothing done to me — can separate me from the love of God.
I’m convinced its your story too.