COLUMN: Everything I have is because of God

Thanksgiving, which came and went last week, is always a reminder of just how blessed I am.

And this year, I’m feeling even more thankful than usual.

For one thing, I have focused more on both my physical and spiritual well-being in recent months. I am working out at home on a regular basis, playing pickup basketball at least once a week — I’m also captaining a team in the Morganton Recreation Department’s adult league this winter — and reading my Bible more than I have in years or maybe ever.

I have made new acquaintances through basketball since I returned to the court in June after a hiatus of nearly nine months, and I have also developed relationships with people in my church through our young adults’ group, discipleship classes, and men’s dinners. I’m still not the most outgoing individual in the world, but it’s nice to be building community with others rather than feeling like a stranger.

Additionally, my wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage and 15 years of dating this past summer. Things haven’t always gone smoothly for us, but I am grateful to her for remaining by my side in the good times and the bad.

By far the biggest challenge in 2025 has been adjusting to having a daughter. My wife gave birth to a beautiful little girl in March, and while she has a smile that can light up a room, a good night’s sleep has been hard to come by at times.

We have persisted, though, and at the end of the day, that little girl has me wrapped around her finger. I am so proud to be her father.

It has also been a relatively pain-free year for me after I broke a bone in my right foot in 2023 and a bone in my left foot in 2024, ending a 33-year run of no broken bones for this now 35-year-old. And I am motivated to continue getting in better shape in the months and years ahead because I want to increase my chances of living a long life, particularly now that I have a child.

The Paper has also enjoyed another banner year, winning numerous state and national awards. Personally, I won a North Carolina Press Association award for the story I wrote about Valdese native Tyler Shatley in March following his retirement from the NFL a couple of months prior.

Shatley spent his entire 11-year career with the Jacksonville Jaguars, with the 2009 East Burke High School graduate appearing in 145 total games, including 51 starts on the offensive line. But it is his Christian faith that is most admirable to me, and it was an honor to hear him speak at a men’s conference at Morganton’s FAM Church — which I wrote about in September — this year as well.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: being the assistant sports editor of The Paper is the best job I’ve ever had. I always dreamed of returning to Burke County as a sports writer, so when the opportunity presented itself in the summer of 2023, I made sure I didn’t let it pass me by.

If nothing else, I can always count on God’s faithfulness. I can see his hand in so many areas of my life. Even when things seem bleak, he is present. He loves me unconditionally, and he has never led me astray.

Hebrews 10:23 reminds us to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” Bad times may come, but our wonderful, merciful, and loving God forever has our best interests at heart.