I Know What It
Feels Like to
Not Belong.
I Did Not Have a Great Start.
My mom was addicted to crack. My dad was addicted to heroin. By the time I was two years old I was in foster care. By the time I was eleven I had lived with thirteen different families.
Thirteen homes. Thirteen versions of normal. Thirteen times wondering if this one was going to stick.
I have been abandoned, rejected, and abused in every sense of the word. I have even been raided by the SWAT team.
Not as a sermon illustration. From the inside.
Along the way I picked up some beliefs about myself that made sense given what I was living through. That I was not wanted. That I did not fit. That love was something you had to earn and even then it might not last.
Now I do.
Orphan thinking.
Living like you are unwanted even after you have been chosen.
Then Something Shifted.
God placed me into a family that did not just take me in. They chose me.
It was not perfect. But it was different. And it started rewriting something in me that I did not even know needed rewriting.
I Tried to Build a Life On My Own Terms.
As I got older I did what a lot of people do. I went into business. I built things. I sold things. I grew things. At one point I was doing over twenty thousand dollars a week in revenue.
From the outside it looked like I had figured it out. From the inside something was still missing.
and still feel like
you do not belong.
Success does not fix what is broken on the inside. I know because I tried.
Then I Actually Encountered Jesus.
Not just believed in Him. Encountered Him.
And things started to change. Not all at once. Not in a way that made a good highlight reel. Just slowly, steadily, genuinely.
Old patterns started breaking. New ones started forming. I started understanding who I actually was instead of who my past had told me I was.
I stepped away from business. Stepped into ministry. Started pastoring. Started teaching. Started helping other people find what I had found.
Learning to Live Like a Son.
Here is what nobody tells you about encountering Jesus.
The encounter happens in a moment. The healing takes years.
I had to learn that being saved was not the same as being whole. God had adopted me. But I still thought like an orphan. Still flinched when love felt too close. Still worked to earn what grace had already given me. Still waited for the other shoe to drop.
Learning to think like a son took years.
I had to learn what it meant to be a son and not a slave. To receive love instead of performing for it. To trust a Father who was not going anywhere. To let my identity come from what God said instead of what my past had written over me.
That process is still happening. I do not have it all figured out. But I have walked far enough down this road to know it is real, it is worth it, and I was never meant to walk it alone.
That is why I built Adopted by the King.
Not because I arrived. Because I am on the road and I want company.
Who I Am
Right Now.
I am the pastor of Local Church Waller, a church in Waller, Texas. I lead a discipleship ministry called Adopted by the King built around helping people move from an orphan mindset into the identity, freedom, and purpose that are already theirs in Christ. I wrote a book by the same name. It is finished and it is coming.
I speak at churches, conferences, podcasts, and events. People come to me when they need wisdom, direction, and leadership. Usually from someone who has actually been in the mess and come out the other side.
I am not a polished platform. I am a guy who came up hard, met a God who did not give up on him, and now spends his days helping other people find what he found.
Belonging Changes
Everything.
Not a doctrine statement. Just what I know to be true after a lifetime of looking for a place to belong and finally finding one.
Let's Keep the
Conversation Going.
Start with the message. Watch a sermon, hear the teaching, and find out what God has been saying about you all along.
Watch Messages →Adopted by the King is the movement built around helping people come home to the Father. That is where the journey goes deeper.
AdoptedByTheKing.com →Get the free Walk Free guide and take your first real step into living as a loved son or daughter of God.
Get the Free Guide →If you are in Waller, Texas on a Sunday morning, come. You belong there before you ever walk through the door.
Local Church Waller →Follow along on social media. I show up there regularly with teaching, encouragement, and real life in between.
Follow on Instagram →If you want to bring this message to your church, conference, or event, the speaking page is where to start.
Speaking Page →You Are Wanted.
You Are Welcomed.
You Belong.
If any part of my story sounded like yours, you do not have to figure this out alone. Let us take the next step together.
With you on the road,