traviswright

So now what do I do? Hopefully you aren’t too confused about the difference between Roth IRA’s, Traditional IRA’s, 401(k)’s, tax sheltered plans, non-tax sheltered plans, mutual funds, and stocks. Knowing the difference is not enough. You have to know which company to invest with, which funds to invest in, and how to go about doing that. Here’s my best attempt at helping. My goal is to help a first time investor find an investment that they feel comfortable with while they start building for their future retirement.

The Big Ones
There are a few big companies that you see commercials for on a regular basis - Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and more. I will focus on what I feel are the best 2 options for beginning investors. The 2 that I have chosen are Vanguard and T. Rowe Price(TRP). I did not choose Fidelity, because they require an initial $10,000 investment to invest in their funds. 

T. Rowe Price

Advantages of TRP
-TRP has a great selection of target date retirement funds. Basically, you take the year that you are planning to retire, and find a fund that is dated for that time period. For me, it will be between 2040-2045.  So the TRP Retirement 2045 would be the best choice for me. Within this fund, I am invested in many different TRP funds, 14 to be exact. 91.50% is invested in stocks while 8.50% is in bonds. In my opinion this is a good aggressive mix for people in the mid to early twenties. You are invested in some international markets, emerging markets, small cap stocks, different types of large-cap stocks, mid-cap stocks, domestic bonds, and high-yield bonds. If that sounds like French to you, all it means is that you are diversified.

-TRP has incredibly low requirements when starting up your fund. Most investments with other companies require an initial investment anywhere from $1,000-$10,000. With the automatic asset builder from TRP, you can start with as little as $50, but you have to contribute at least $50 each month through an automatic withdrawal from your checking account. If you choose not to do this, you can start with the intial $1,000 investment which still is not bad at all.

-TRP has a great website. It’s very user-friendly and easy to understand.

- It’s free to trade among other TRP mutual funds (but you don’t want to do this very often)

- TRP has plenty of No-Load funds to choose from.

 

Disadvantages of TRP
- TRP has a stupid $10 fee for those of us who have balances less than $5,000. At least for this year, this will be me.  Once you get over $5,000, there are no additional fees.

- TRP’s expense ratio is a tad bit higher than Vanguards. For the 2045 Retirement fund, the expense ratio is .74%

Vanguard

Advantages of Vanguard
- Vanguard is the low cost leader in mutual funds. They will almost always have the lowest expense ratio. For their 2045 Retirement fund, the expense ratio is .20%.

- They have a better reputation than TRP. Not that TRP is bad, Vanguard is probably just more well-known.

- Vanguard also has a tremendous selection of mutual funds as well as index funds. (In a nutshell, an index fund “aims to replicate the movements of an index of a specific financial market” such as the S&P 500.) Vanguard also has a target date retirement fund for just about anybody. Looking at the Vanguard Target Retirement 2045, you’ll see it is very similar to TRP’s 2045 Retirement fund. This fund invests in 89.73% stocks, 10.01% in bonds, and .26% in short term reserves. I honestly don’t know the point of that .26%.  Within this fund you are invested in the following: Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, Total Bond Market Index Fund, European Stock Index Fund, Pacific Stock Index Fund, and the Emerging Markets Stock Index Fund.

- Vanguard normally charges a $20 feeif balances are less than $10,000. However, they just recently eliminated this feeif you receive electronic statements. Not too bad! This is a nice advantage over TRP’s $10 fee even if you have electronic statements. 

- It’s free to trade between Vanguard funds.

Disadvantages of Vanguard

- Vanguard requires an initial investment of $3,000. This is hard for most new/young investors. They offer a fund called the Star Fund that you can start with $1,000, but I do not like the way the funds are allocated (63% stock, 25% bonds, 12% cash). It’s a little too conservative for me.

My Opinion

I feel that TRP is very accessible and beneficial for young investorswho don’t have a lot of money to start with. The main drawback of TRP is the fees. They are a little bit higher than Vanguard. The Target Date Retirement funds are very comparable though. TRP has outperformed Vanguard this year, but just barely, and in the long run, who knows what could happen.

Because I opened a Roth IRA for my wife and I, to go with Vanguard I would need to have $6,000. And once you put money in any type of IRA, that’s money that’s hard to get back without penalties. I personally didn’t have $6,000 to start with.  Therefore, I went with TRP and the 2045 Retirement Fund. I haven’t been hit with the $10 fee yet, but I will be before the year ends. I contribute the same amount each month to each of our accounts, and I will add any extra money that we have been able to save at the end of the year. My emergency fund has been my main focus up until this point, but now that the balance is close to our goal, all extra money will start going to the IRA’s.

Once I reach the $3,000 balance in each of the TRP funds, I will most likely switch to Vanguard for the long haul. The expense ratio is lower, and that will play a big role as time goes on.  Also, once my balances get high enough, I may create my own allocation for the funds instead of letting Vanguard do it for me. I’ve yet to determine this though, and it will be awhile before I have to cross this bridge.

Why post this?

So the question is why did I post this. The main reason is that I want to see people save and not spend. I don’t want to see my friends retire with no money (or not enough money). I want to see people save more than they earn. Most importantly, I wanted people in their 20’s to see that it’s easy to start now. It doesn’t take a lot of money. Investing is not just for the rich, it’s for everyone. And remember, I’m no expert, it’s just my opinion. Also, remember that anytime you’re in the stock market, you will always have a chance of losing money. Hopefully you’ll always gain more than you lose though.

Mutual Funds, IRA’s, and Roth IRA’s

As promised, today I’ll be taking a look at the different options available for 1st time young investors. Let’s start with explaining what a mutual fund has to offer.

Mutual Fund
A mutual fund is a type of investment that allows you to invest in multiple types of funds. In a single mutual fund, you can be invested in stocks, bonds, short term money markets, or other securities. Instead of having to buy a handful of individual stocks or bonds, you get multiple stocks and bonds in one package. Mutual funds are managed by a fund manager who decides which individual stocks and bonds that fund will invest in. At the end of 2007, more than $26 trillion was invested in mutual funds worldwide.

A mutual fund is not a place to make a quick dollar(although I’m sure some have found a way). It’s a long-term investment. It’s not one that you trade on a regular basis for a different fund, although it is good to re-balance your fund choices periodically. A good mutual fund will average somewhere between 7%-12% over a 5 year period. It’s possible to have a year with a -10% return, but it’s also possible to have a year where you can have a 15%-20% gain. 2008 is shaping up to be on the losing side, but you can rest assured that there will be a good year ahead in the future.

As mentioned before, each mutual fund is managed by a fund manager. And you know that the fund manager has got to be paid right? This is where mutual funds can get a little complicated. There are 2 types of ways that fees are charged - Load or No-Load. Load funds charge a commission while no-load are commission free. Within Load funds, there are Front-End load funds, and Back-End. It’s exactly what it sounds like - with front-load, you pay a percentage of the investment as a commission up front. With Back-end, you pay when you sell. Check out this chart from YahooFinance. It starts with a $10,000 balance assuming a 9% rate of return. Assuming the market reflects the assumptions made in this chart, a no-load fund is the way to go.

Total Return Comparison

	Start	Year 1	Year 2	Year 3
100% No-Load	$10,000	$10,900	$11,881	$12,950
5% Front-End Load	$ 9,500	$10,303	$11,174	$12,119
3% Back-End Load	$10,000	$10,845	$11,762	$12,374

IRA’s - Roth and Traditional (plus 401k’s)
What is an IRA? It is an Individual Retirement Arrangement (most think its Individual Retirement Account, but it’s not - but that really doesn’t matter!) It is also a tax-sheltered account. To contribute to an IRA, an individual has to have earned income during the year. To withdraw from an IRA, the individual has to be over 59 1/2, however a few exceptions do apply.

The main difference between a Roth IRA and Traditional IRA has to do with the wonderful world of TAXES!

With a traditional IRA, you do not pay taxes on the money that you contribute. Your taxable income at the end of the year is reduced by whatever money is contributed to the IRA. This means that you pay less taxes the year that you contribute.  However, when you start withdrawing the money during retirement you pay taxes on everything.

Roth IRA’s are the exact opposite. Every dollar contributed to a Roth has already been taxed. But when the time comes to start taking distributions, you do not pay any taxes.

So what’s better? I think that a Roth IRA is best, but like I said - I am no expert. There are experts though who are on both sides of the fence. In a traditional IRA, you are able to contribute more money than you could to a Roth because the money is tax free. The maximum amount you can contribute is $5,000 to a Roth, but $5,000 after tax is a lot less than $5,000 before tax. I prefer a Roth IRA because I think it is a wonderful investment tool. I also think that I am in a lower tax bracket now than I will be in 40 years. This means I pay a smaller percentage of tax. Plus, not many people see taxes being reduced in the future. You can almost bet that taxes will be raised on a consistent basis (unless someone like Mike Huckabee is president and initiates a flat-tax policy.)

A 401(k) is very similar to a traditional IRA. It is also a tax sheltered plan and all contributions are pre-tax. The difference is that a 401(k) is an employer sponsored plan. I have one of these where I work, and most larger companies will have some type of plan that you can enroll in. I contribute a certain percentage of my salary and a part of each paycheck goes straight into the 401(k). It is invested in different mutual funds. Unfortunately, sometimes companies do not give you good funds to choose from, but fortunately, I have a lot of funds to chose from through Fidelity.

So what’s best?
Although I like the Roth IRA for a variety of reasons, the best answer is to be diversified. You don’t want to have all of your eggs in 1 basket. For example, I contribute to a 401(k) through work, individual company stock of my employer, and a Roth IRA on my own. Finally, I also have a Mutual Fund that is not a tax-sheltered investment. So, I have 2 tax sheltered investments - one is pre-tax dollars and the other is after-tax. I have 2 investments that aren’t tax sheltered - stock in 1 individual company plus 1 mutual fund that is heavily invested in multiple stocks. With all of that said, diversity is the key. My strategy isn’t brain science, but it’s also not a get rich quick scheme. I have got 40 years to reach my goals. There could be better ways to go about it than I am now, but I feel confident in the path that I have chosen. At least I’m investing in something right?

Up next: detailed advice on which funds and companies are best.

Over the next week, I will have a few posts on some different investment ideas. Yes, I work at a bank, but I am no expert in the area of investments, but I enjoy learning and researching the many different types of investments that are available. My hope is to share with you some of what I’ve learned.

This first post will deal strictly with the mindset that you need before you start investing in the market. I have been “in the market” now for almost 2 years. I wish I would have started about 4 years a go on the day that I got out of college. I would not have been able to invest a lot since I hardly made enough that first year to cover the bills, but I could have invested something.

Here is a brief overview of my current investments. The next post will go into more detail on these different types of investments and the benefits and downfalls of each.

Overview
I started contributing to a 401k through my employment at the bank as soon as I was hired. Not knowing what I was doing or how much to save, I contributed the “default” amount to my plan. This was only 3%. At this rate, I could retire at 165 instead of 65.  Once I realized that 3% was not much, I made a significant change in this percentage. After I had been there for almost a year I was eligible to contribute to our company stock. Here is where it gets a lot sweeter. Our company does not match any contributions to the 401k, but they will match $.50 for each $1.00 I contribute. However, I can only contribute 5% of my yearly salary to this stock option plan. I also opened a mutual fund account with another company during this time. This was not a tax sheltered plan (meaning that I have to pay taxes on whatever I earn), and I contributed to it monthly after an initial lump-sum investment. Finally, I recently started contributing to 2 Roth IRA’s for my wife and I.

The mindset needed to invest
When I first started contributing to my 401k, I did not pay much attention to what was going on. I chose my investments and left it alone. Mainly because I did not know how to check anything or monitor the progress. I just knew that money was coming out of my check each month and that was enough. Once I opened the mutual fund, I became completely obsessed.  I went to the website and checked it almost every day. I was focused on my rate of return and how much money I had earned. Well, from day 1, I lost money. It seems that since I’ve been “in the market,” I have done nothing but lose money. It’s not because my investment choices aren’t wise or smart, it’s just because the market in general has performed very poorly. Becuase I was losing money, I didn’t want to contribute more money. I did continue to contribute, but it was driving me crazy. It was always on my mind. Obviously, this is not the mindset needed to be a succesful investor.

To make matters worse, between February and July, our company stock has dropped over 35%. This is pretty typical for bank stocks. Obviously this is only a small part of my investment portfolio, but it still hits hard. However, it finally seems to be coming back up (it’s up 5% just today.

Let’s fast-forward to my current mindset. In a nutshell, I don’t worry about it anymore. Yes, it really sucks that the market has been so bad, but there is nothing I can do about it. I feel confident that I am invested in the right funds. I’m not extremely aggresive, but I’m not conservative at all either. For my age and the length of time until I retire, I feel that I am in the right place. I have 30-40 more years to be invested in the market and based upon the history of the stock market, I can be 100% sure that I will earn back everything that I have lost in the past year. Even more important is the fact that I am able to buy many more shares with the same amount of money than I was before. I still check my balances, and the rate of return on my accounts, but not nearly as often. I only check the rate of return every couple of months. It doesn’t do me any good to be obsessed with each individual account each and every day. Don’t freak out when the market is going down. It’s going to come back up. But don’t get greedy when it’s on the way back up. Find a plan and stick with it for the long run. Invest wisely, and trust yourself. Find something that works for you. If you are a conservative person by nature and can’t handle the risks of the stock market, then invest accordingly. Finally, remember this: It’s a marathon, not a 100-yard dash to retirement. You don’t get rich overnight. It’s a very slow process and it requires a lot of patience.

Simply put, the most important thing is to START NOW. Don’t wait another day.

Next up: What’s a Roth IRA and where do I get one from?

The summer before I started the 8th grade, I started running Cross Country with Spring Valley High School. How I got started running is really a crazy story, but I won’t go into those details here. Maybe another day. Running quickly turned into something that I loved and something that I was good at. It came naturally to me and I could easily see the progress that I was making. By my sophomore year I was the top runner on the varsity team in Cross Country and in the distance events for track. As a freshman I ran a mile in 4:48 and then as a sophmore I ran a 5k in 16:47. My junior year I had some knee problems and got more involved with church, and then I didn’t run at all as a Senior.

I learned a lot while running Cross Country. The most important thing that I learned is how to work hard to achieve a goal. I set goals to run long distances (the most I ever ran was 12 miles), to run faster, to run more often, and to be faster than anyone else on our team. I won a few races and finished top 20 in the state, and really achieved most of my goals that I set. What I loved about Cross Country is this: if you didn’t train, you didn’t do well. You literally only got out what you put in. You couldn’t just get by. You had to constantly and consistently run, run, run, run. If you didn’t train hard and push yourself to the point where you can’t push anymore, you wouldn’t improve. I loved to see the results from working hard. It’s great to be working hard and see immediate results. I honestly believe that I am who I am today because of the 4 years that I spent running Cross Country. I learned to set goals. I’ve learned to find ways to reach my goals. Unfortunately, it’s sometimes hard to see immediate results on those goals. For example, I’m saving for retirement, but I think I’m only like 1% to my goal after 2 years. But we will get there, it just takes a little more time.

On another note, I’m still trying to run, but it’s incredibly depressing. I still have knee trouble as well as problems with both of my feet going numb, but I love to run. I’m trying to take it as easy as possible so that I can get some exercise. I just clocked myself and realized that I am averaging about 9-10 minutes a mile for a 3 mile run. I can do this for 30 minutes (3 miles) and I am nowhere close to out of breath, but my feet literally give up on me. It’s extremely frustrating, but I hope to keep making progress and within the next couple of months be able to run 4 or 5 miles. I hate running so slow, but you’ve got to start somewhere, and if I don’t start now, I’ll just keep getting fatter!!

So, I encourage you to set goals. Work hard to reach them, and don’t give up in the process. There is no better feeling than setting a goal that you feel is impossible to reach and then a year or 2 later reaching that goal!

Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Brevard. Christian, Chester, and I camped for 2 nights near the fish hatchery and then spent Saturday hiking on the Art Loeb and Ivestor Gap trails. Somehow we never got wet the entire time we were hiking, but it seemed like it could rain at any minute. The temperature was in the 60’s the whole time which made for great hiking weather. We did get tons of rain, thunder, and lightning at the camp site for about an hour on Saturday night, but we survived. There is nothing like spending a weekend in the mountains in Brevard, NC. It’s as close to heaven as you can get on this earth.

America remains a nation of believers, but a new survey finds most Americans don’t feel their religion is the only way to eternal life — even if their faith tradition teaches otherwise.

That’s straight from the front of foxnews.com this morning. It comes at a great time as a follow up to yesterdays post on heaven. This article immediately reminded me of the Larry King Live interview with “pastor” motivational speaker feel good teacher Joel Osteen. Larry King asked him if Jews, Muslims, and Buddhists could get into heaven. Joel responded by saying, “I’m not sure, That’s not for me to decide.”

The gate to heaven is as clear as the light of a sunny day. There is one way. That way is Jesus. Joel Osteen could have answered that question with a 100% positive “NO.” Only believers in Jesus get into heaven. Some say that’s an arrogant position to hold. Some are afraid to be exclusive and try to include everybody. Unfortunately, if you do not believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ and His life and His death on a cross, you are excluded from spending eternity in heaven.

It’s incredibly sad that even “57 percent of evangelical church attenders said they believe many religions can lead to eternal life, in conflict with traditional evangelical teaching. In all, 70 percent of Americans with a religious affiliation shared that view, and 68 percent said there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their own religion.”

John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

After yesterday’s post, I got an e-mail from someone saying, “I hope I can be as sure as you are one day that I’ll be in Heaven.”

For you, or anyone else, Jesus is THE WAY. He is the only way. I believe with everything inside of me that Jesus is the way. I believe all of his teachings. I believe that He is the son of God, yet He came to earth as man and lived a life without sin. After He was hung on a cross to die, He arose 3 days later and now sits on His throne in Heaven. These truths are what I’ve built my life upon. Believing in God is not just “fire insurance” to keep me out of hell - I truly believe that Jesus has saved me. And I am His child. That is why I’m so sure I will spend eternity in Heaven.

Have I ever doubted before? YES! Doubt is a response that many believers have dealt with. It’s one of the biggest tools that the devil has in his toolbox. The more we doubt, the less we believe, and that is the devil’s main goal. Never let doubt consume your life. God has given you the truth. God is not a God of confusion or disorder. He has made it very clear that He is the only way to Heaven. Now you just have to trust and hold on to what you know in your heart to be true.

I don’t think a lot about death, but I think that there may be some people who think about it a lot. I have no fear of death. However, I do hope to die a peaceful, pain-free death. The thought of burning to death, drowning, or dying a slow death of cancer does make me fearful. My prayer has always been, Lord, Please take me as quick as possible.

This morning as I was driving to work, I was listening to a Jars of Clay song called “All My Tears.” I’ve had the Good Monsters album since it came out (maybe a year or two?) and really didn’t like it at all at first, but it has grown on me a lot each time I listen to it. This song is amazing and you should listen to it. Here are the lyrics:

“All My Tears”

When I go, don’t cry for me In my Father’s arms I’ll be
The wounds this world left on my soul Will all be healed and I’ll be whole.
Sun and moon will be replaced With the light of Jesus’ face
And I will not be ashamed For my Savior knows my name.

Gold and silver blind the eye Temporary riches lie
Come and eat from heaven’s store, Come and drink, and thirst no more

It don’t matter where you bury me, I’ll be home and I’ll be free.
It don’t matter where I lay,All my tears be washed away

So, weep not for me my friends,When my time below does end
For my life belongs to Him Who will raise the dead again.

I’ve been thinking about this song a lot so far today. Most importantly, I’ve tried to focus on having an eternal mindset. I feel like my life would look a lot different if everyday I knew this was only a temporary part of life. I know that I don’t think about Heaven nearly enough. I really can’t put it much better than Andrew Peterson in the song “Lay Me Down.”

“Lay Me Down”
So when you lay me down to die
I’ll miss my boys, I’ll miss my girls
Lay me down and let me say goodbye to this world
You can lay me anywhere
But just remember this
When you lay me down to die
You lay me down to live

I believe in the holy shores of uncreated light
I believe there is power in the blood
And all of the death that ever was,
If you set it next to life
I believe it would barely fill a cup
‘Cause I believe there’s power in the blood

How awesome is that - “All of the death that ever was, if you set it next to life - I believe it would barely fill a cup. Cause I believe there’s power in the blood!”

Heaven is going to be an awesome place - a place where I know I will spend eternity. I know for sure without a doubt that I will meet Jesus face to face and spend eternity with Him. I know that I do not fully comprehend the word eternity. To quote the old hymn, “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.”

**Andrew Peterson’s album the Far Country is entirely based around this incredible truth. The music is amazing, and the lyrics are just as powerful. When I die, I think I could have the whole album played at my funeral. The album closes with a song called “More” and I’ll end this post the same way. Do yourself a favor and download the whole album of The Far Country.**

“More”
This is not the end here at this grave
This is just a hole that someone made
Every hole was made to fill
And every heart can feel it still–
Our nature hates a vacuum

This is not the hardest part of all
This is just the seed that has to fall
All our lives we till the ground
Until we lay our sorrows down
And watch the sky for rain

There is more
More than all this pain
More than all the falling down
And the getting up again
There is more
More than we can see
From our tiny vantage point
In this vast eternity
There is more

A thing resounds when it rings true
Ringing all the bells inside of you
Like a golden sky on a summer eve
Your heart is tugging at your sleeve
And you cannot say why
There must be more

There is more
More than we can stand
Standing in the glory
Of a love that never ends
There is more
More than we can guess
More and more, forever more
And not a second less

There is more than what the naked eye can see
Clothing all our days with mystery
Watching over everything
Wilder than our wildest dreams
Could ever dream to be
There is more

I have been looking forward to this weekend for over a month now. I’ll be leaving right after work to head to the beautiful Pisgah National Forest. I’ve been listening to bluegrass music all week just to prepare and I feel like I’m ready to go.

We camp right next to the Davidson River about a 1/2 mile up the trail from the Fish Hatchery. However, it seems that about 80% of the time that I go, it rains. And a couple of times, it has poured rain (once was the outer band of a hurricane and it was miserable).  It may very well rain from the time we get there tonight until we leave Sunday morning, but there is still hope. Even if it rains, there will no place I’d rather be. Right now it on weather.com, it says that there is a 40% chance of rain from the time we arrive until we leave.

The current header on the top of the blog was taken on my last trip. It’s a picture of the Davidson River as the sun was rising. Morning is by far my favorite time of the day while I’m there as you can see the sunlight coming up and through the trees. It’s absolutley beautiful.

If you’ve never been up to Brevard or the surronding areas, you’ve got to go. Even if you’re not a hiker, hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and drive until you just can’t afford gas any longer (which may not be too far since gas costs $10/gallon. The Parkway is awesome though and I really could spend hours driving along. One of these days I’d like to take a week long vacation and drive along the entire parkway from start to finish camping and exploring along the way.

So, pray that we don’t drown this weekend and that we have dry pillows and clothes. I’ll have some pictures up upon our return.

Maybe I shouldn’t be a worship leader. Here’s what I read yesterday that put this idea in my mind. (Do not go any farther until you’ve read this post or the rest of this blog will make NO SENSE to you. Just make sure to come back, because that blog is really a TON more interesting than this.) Here is how I scored on the metro-sexual worship leader test.

8. Wears jeans on stage = +1
27. Has ever said some form of the phrase, “That song is so 1990s” = +1
28. Owns a Grizzly Adams red and black flannel shirt = -2  (i have multiple ones!)
38. Wife accompanies him on stage and plays tambourine = -4  (let’s change this to -2, she accompanies me on stage but doesn’t play tambourine)
40. Knows the names of all the people on the scripted MTV show, “the Hills” = +3 (only b/c my wife watches it)

So thanks to the Hills for getting me out of the negative range and helping me to score a +1 on the test. I’m sorry I don’t drink coffee, I don’t wear girl jeans, I don’t use any productin my hair, I have no tattoos or man bags, but I did have a goatee at one time. And I did own some Vans in middle school.

I really thought this was hilarious though and it just confirmed what I already knew. I’m not your stereo-typical worship leader of today’s churches/church plant.

I’ve been leading worship for some time now. I guess you could trace it all the way back to high school youth group. I really enjoy leading worship because I get to take part in 2 of my favorite things - worshipping God and playing music. It can’t get much better than that. From the time I started playing music, I always wanted to be in a band. What musician hasn’t? As time has gone on, the Big Man Upstairs  God  has made it clear - that just isn’t me.  That sucks doesn’t it? It took me awhile to understand who God had called me to be. I feel like I have learned to be me. I am who God created me to be. He’s given me talents and ability to play music. He’s given me a love for music. With my love of music, my love for the Lord has grown as well. I love to enjoy music with others and most importantly to see it be used as a tool to bring others into a time of worship with God.

I don’t have the greatest voice and I don’t have a lot to say when I lead, but somehow God is able to use me for His kingdom and I’m thankful for that.

Hey everyone, I’ve added a new page today called Melodies. Go on over and take a look. It’s a page where I will be letting you know what music I’ve been listening to and what you should check it out. Who knows how often it will be updated, but it will at least be fun for me to write about!