Jeremiah Was A What?

So here is a little bit about me. I didn’t think to do a short bio on myself until after having posted 3 times, and almost finishing a fourth. I know. “Brilliant!”

I am a husband, father and engineer/paramedic. I have been married to Gia for almost 20 years. We have 3 daughters. Hailey, Shea, and Liana. My family is the joy of my life, especially my girls.  Gia is an outgoing lover of people, and works with the young kids at the local public schools. My girls are all different, but they have the same love for each other and get along very well (even though they have their moments). We love to hang out, have fun and laugh together. Gia says I’m a good daddy, but I think Orthodoxy has helped me try to do better (for that matter, trying to be a better husband too).

We have lived in the city of Upland, CA for over 16 years now. We have been making our home palace of positive and joyous memories for our family. We have good neighbors that all watch out for each other.

I have been in the fire service since 1998, and a paramedic since 2001. It has been an interesting road for me, but I like this job (but I definitely have my moments). I have worked in just about every climate California has to offer: high desert, low desert, mountains and central coast. I promoted to Engineer (known as chauffeur in some areas) a few years back. There’s nothing quite like driving a fire engine Code-3. While I’d like to think I have been a good Fireman/paramedic over the past several years, Orthodoxy has had a radical effect on the way I view the people I serve. It’s easy to become jaded, if you’re not careful. Jesus has exposed that, and begun to heal it (thankfully).

I kind of explained this in my post, but I was born into a Protestant home (Calvary Chapel specifically). While I have sinned greatly, I have had a passion for communicating the Word of God from my early adult years. My only theological education has been CCBC (see first post) and a lot of reading on my own. I spent the first 30 years of my life in Calvary Chapel, then found the Presbyterian Church, spending about 5 years there.

2009 to 2010 was my introduction to the Eastern Orthodox Church. I can’t say I discovered it, as much as it discovered me (meaning she led me to herself). I have learned so much in that time, that my head has spun many times over. All that information, though, has not been content to stay in my head. I have found it powerfully working its way into my heart, my life. In a word, transforming. My wife doesn’t quite understand this journey, and is having a hard time with it (understandably), but my girls were baptized into the Church, nearly a year and a half after myself (they came in Pascha 2013). My wife has not made this journey, but she has been, and continues to remain supportive and loving. A real blessing.

My hope is to not only share the journey itself, but some reflections on the things I have learned, seen and experienced. Maybe somebody will find it helpful, or at least interesting.

Fell free to comment, criticize, or question. And if you have any tips for making this blog better, please let me know. I’m unskilled in the blog world (a little slow on the uptake, I guess).