The Testimony Series: Byron Part 1

I have always loved the game of baseball. I've played the sport since I was very little. I remember my first Tee-ball season - our team was the Indians. I think I was five our six years old at time. I grew up in Denver, Colorado and we didn't have a Major League baseball team in the city until 1993. But the spring of '93 was the beginning of the Rockies franchise. I remember my dad taking me to my first Rockies game at the old Mile High stadium. I don't remember much of the game, except that the Rockies were playing the Cubs, and the atmosphere was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced. I think that was the year I fell in love with the game.

I lived and died baseball all through my school years. In high school I had the chance to play basketball or football - but I always chose to play fall baseball instead. I would play January thorough October - whenever the weather would allow. Towards the end of high school I began looking at college baseball programs. Let's face it, the only reason I wanted to go to college was to play ball. I was looking at schools in Arizona, Kansas, and Ohio. But something in my life was beginning to change - I had met a girl. All of the sudden, leaving for another state didn't sound so appealing to me. I wanted to stay close to this girl - so I chose to go to a small Christian university in Denver. This university had a baseball program, so I was still focused on the game, but I also knew that I really loved this girl. Even though I was only 18 at the time, I knew that I had to marry Emily someday. So I stayed in state to study and play ball.

I had grown up in a Christian home, but I never really knew the Lord. I never gave God much of a thought. I was focused on me. I was focused on baseball. Yes, I had gone on a couple mission trips to Ukraine. I thought they were good experiences. I loved the country. I loved how I felt on the trip. But in all reality - I had no desire to have a relationship with God.

My first semester at college, I began to feel my life changing dramatically. Emily and I were getting serious about each other. We even began talking about marriage. But we were both in a place where we felt like we were missing something. At this time, we began attending Calvary Chapel Aurora. This was the time when the Lord really got a hold of my heart. Getting into the Word at Calvary was so good for me. Every night I was reading the Bible. God was speaking to me. Before long, I had dedicated my life to the Lord. I was madly in love with Jesus. His Word had penetrated my heart. My only desire was to serve the Lord. I wanted to know Him deeply and be used by Him.

I don't think I would have ever denied my faith verbally, but before I went to Calvary, I was living with one foot in both worlds - doing what I wanted, when I wanted, but being a "Christian" on Sundays and when people asked me about religion. My words were different than my actions. The Bible makes it very clear that you can't have both light and darkness. You have to choose one or the other, and by thinking you can choose both - you're actually choosing darkness. I claimed to love Jesus, but in reality I loved the world. 1 John 2:15 says, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." This totally described my life before I committed everything to Jesus. I loved the things of the world and if I continued in that lifestyle, I would have ended up facing Jesus someday, and He would have told me, "I never knew you" (Matt 7:21-23).

So, I finally gave my life over to Jesus in the middle of my freshman year of college. I was still playing baseball, and it was a huge time commitment. Four hours of practice after classes every day. Ten hours a day Fridays and Saturdays. My life was consumed by baseball and I felt the Lord telling me to walk away from the game. I was only serving myself on the field. It was all about my enjoyment of the game, my passion for the sport. I knew God was calling me to start serving Him. I also knew He was calling me to get serious about life and marry Emily. I had to get a job so I could provide for her. God had also put a desire in my heart to minister to youth. There was an opportunity for an internship program at college to work in a youth group. I also began perusing a job in the restaurant industry. I couldn't commit to both this internship and a job and play baseball. I knew God was asking me to walk away from baseball. So, I obeyed. 

As time progressed, the Lord began to give me a passion for missions. I began to remember Ukraine, and have a burden for Ukraine and a desire to share the Gospel there. I couldn't stop thinking about the country. Emily and I began planning how we could get to Ukraine. It's hard to describe, but every Bible study at church or every devotion I did, the Lord brought Ukraine to my heart. God had totally replaced my passion for baseball with Ukraine. It was amazing.

During all of this, Emily and I were growing in the Lord and growing closer to each other. Only a few weeks after I proposed to her in the summer of 2008, we were on a plane headed to Kiev, Ukraine on a short-term trip.

And next post I'll share the rest of the story of how we ended up in Ternopil and how amazing the Lord is! :)

Blessings,
Byron