290135242

Who am I? Great question... This past weekend I spent some time sharing with a friend who I am, where I've been and where I want to go.I was born in the Midwest, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My grandparents on both sides are from the Netherlands so I am Dutch, but a conservative environment - not like Amsterdam at all. We belong to a church that had it's own school system and pretty much is all made up of white Dutch people like me. But I was different. I wondered why we didn't want women in leadership; I wondered why not many black people belonged to our schools or church... and most of all I knew I was gay. That made growing up a little tough and until I was comfortable with myself my life was often hell. My second dad and former boss was a speaker and author and he often told audiences "You cannot consistently perform in a manner that is inconsistent with the way you see yourself". I would change the word "perform" to "live". As I have grown to understand that I am exactly what God wants me to be, I am at peace and life is becoming so much better.Friends are so important in my life. I have friends of all different backgrounds and religions and I believe that understanding, respecting and accepting people as they are and where they are is the way we should live... and that's a major shift from the thought process I had growing up. Learning and celebrating our differences makes life so much more fun, interesting!I spend half a third of my time in Atlanta, GA and a third in Dallas Texas. The rest is travel - much of which is to help a hero and friend, who speaks mostly to school teachers.I am a hopeless romantic, but I need a strong person to keep me in check and someone who can love me with all my many faults. I look for someone willing to take time to listen to me - even when I ramble and I will return the favor and listen and show all the love I can.Several times in my life I felt like an outcast. The first time was growing up when we moved to a a lake outside of Grand Rapids. There were not a lot of kids my age around and the kids in the local school seemed to have interests much different so I felt like a lonely teenager and I was also coming to terms with being gay... Then in college when I became friends with one someone that wasn't the same color as me, I again felt outcast as my small circle of friends wasn't sure how to deal with Mike and his black friend. The most recent and probably dramatic was when I came out as the church my family had been in for generations rejected me and excommunicated me.When you have been excluded from what was once your world you learn I believe that my life experiences has given me a gift to how to re-examine a lot of things about your life, your beliefs and become more sensitive to others struggles.Seems like this is long yet it seems like I just started my story. I hope this gives you some insight of who I am and why I am and what's in my heart.Thanks for reading!