My testimony begins in Webster City, Iowa, where I was born. My family of five—my parents, older brother, younger sister and I—lived there and in Missouri for a while until I was in third grade when we moved to Florida.

Our family was always involved in church, and I know how fortunate I was to be raised in a Christian home where I was loved and cared for. The only hang-up was that it always seemed like the churches we attended were never close to home. Because of the distance, my siblings and I had school friends and church friends, and they were always different groups. That made church and school very distinct segments in my life for a long time.