STAGES!

     Life happens in stages. As I look back on my life I see the various stages of my development into the man I am today.
     The stages of my education began in a parochial elementary school, Ste. Jeanne d'Arc in Lowell, MA. The next stage was Lowell High School and Manchester, NH, Memorial High School. After a stint in the U.S. Air Force, the next stage, college, was Nathaniel Hawthorne College where I earned a Bachelor Degree.
     The stages of my professional development began while I was in the Air Force. I went to the Security Police Technical School where I was first exposed to the practice of military law enforcement. I took to it like a duck to water. I loved it! The next stage began after I separated from the Air Force. I was hired by a small NH town and was sent to the 58th Session of the NH Police Academy. I was taught the fundamentals of civilian law enforcement. I still loved it! I devoted my life to it.
     My spiritual development began as did my educational development, at Ste. Jeanne d'Arc elementary school. I was raised Roman Catholic. I became an altar boy. I seriously considered going to seminary to train for the priesthood. Then I became a teenager!
     As a typical teenager I rebelled against every thing I had been taught. I still believed in the existence of God but I did not believe Catholic doctrine any more. Part of it was due to me believing that there was significant hypocrisy in the Church and part of it was that Catholic doctrine did not ring true, logically.
     The next stage in my spiritual development happened while I was in the military. I decided to go to the source document, the Bible, and find out for myself what the Bible taught and what were the implications for my life.
     My path brought me, by the grace of God, to Cedric Parsons. Cedric was a Baptist minister at the Fakenham Baptist Church, Fakenham, United Kingdom. I was stationed in a neighboring town at a nearby U.S. Air Force Base. Cedric was a gentle, godly and patient man. He taught me the fundamentals of New Testament Christianity.
     I was transferred from England to Alexandria, LA. There I met John Brasseaux. John was the preacher at the Jackson Street Church of Christ. He was also a former Catholic Brother. He, like Cedric, was a gentle, godly man. John led me through the Bible, teaching me what the Bible said, not what he said the Bible said. I have been a Bible believing Christian ever since. I am eternally grateful to both of these godly men.
     Through the stages of my growth as a Christian, God has graciously placed wonderful men and women in my life who have taught me through friendship and through their example what it means to be Christian, as the Bible defines the term. I hope that I am able to pay forward their kindnesses to me by being as good a friend and as good an example to others.
     Today, I am embarking upon a new stage in my life. I have retired from law enforcement after a 30 year career. I look forward with great optimism and enthusiasm to what our loving God has in store for me as this new stage of life unfolds. God bless you as you go through your current stage in life!