Introduction
Hola amigos!
Mi nombre es Marc Mansfield, and don't worry, that's all the spanish I'll dish out for now.
Welcome to my blog!
If you don't know me already, here's a brief summary of my life. (If you don't want to read it all, you can skip to the last paragraph.):
I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, a hardcore redneck baby. When I was about a year old, I began to develop a thick country accent. My parents became quite concerned and decided that it'd be best to move us somewhere far away from that place where the skies are so blue. We moved to Marietta, Georgia to a big white house where my brother Michael was born. I was about four years old at the time. From what I'm told, I used to get sick all the time and had bad asthma for the first few years of my life. My mom had to give me breathing treatments with this freaky machine that made weird noises. When I was five years old, my dad sold the business he owned, and we decided to move down to Sanford, Florida. The sunshine state was perfect for me because as soon as we moved, I stopped having asthma problems and my immune system got back up to speed. I spent my childhood in Sanford eventually attending Wilson Elementary School. I was very young for my grade because my parents had to start me early for some reason, so I was always the youngest in the class and usually one the shortest. I was never an athlete and I despised P.E. Especially when we had to run "the mile". I was always, at most, third to last, and afterward when we were all hot and sweaty they would tell us to pretend like we were in the North Pole so we wouldn't feel so hot. I could never quite figure that trick out! I was definitely more of the musical type. I joined the chorus and got some pretty good roles in the school plays and the ones at church too. We attended Central Baptist Church while we lived in Sanford and I have some great memories from that place.
Eventually I attended Christian Home & Bible School in Mt. Dora, FL from middle school all the way through senior year. It was quite the drive away from my home in Sanford and my family eventually moved closer. Looking back, I had an incredible time there. Despite a few bullying problems in middle school, I did make some great friends who I'm still friends with today. One of the most impactful times during my high school career was during the summer after 10th grade. I got to go on a mission trip to Panama, and that is where God really got a hold of my life and blew my doors off! I saw Him do incredible things there and I was never the same. One person who made a really huge impact on my life was my youth pastor from our church in Mt. Dora, Michael Hill. He came to Mt. Dora my senior year and began investing in my life, mentoring me, and challenging me to really follow God like never before. He taught me a lot and helped equip me for the next step of my life! College!!!
I'm currently currently a Junior studying accounting at the University of Florida. I hope to get my masters in accounting and use that as a means to support myself and allow me to do the things that I'm passionate about, missions and ministry! I'm excited to see how God will use me. It's been quite a journey so far. I've made some incredible friends, had some great experiences, and I look forward to great things to come! A few interests of mine: I like to make techno and dubstep music. I play guitar and piano. I like to swing dance on Friday nights! I like listening to folk music. My favorite bands currently are the Oh Hello's and Rend Collective Experiment. Though I used to hate it growing up, I now love to run! I have a passion for the Spanish language and Hispanic culture, though I am a gringo by default. I love the country of Panama in particular, and I got to return there this summer for the fourth time with an organization called Awe Star Ministries!
I got the idea to start a blog a few weeks ago. I'm calling it "Student of the Word." The idea came from a man named Walker Moore, the president of Awe Star. During my mission training this summer, He talked about how we must become students of the Word of God (the Bible). That is what I am striving to be and want to inspire others to be too. Not only do I want to be a good student of my university, I want to be a good student of Jesus Christ (which is what the word disciple means). As a college student, I have to use my mind a lot and attempt to be smart to get good grades! I'm here to prove that we don't have to turn our minds off when it comes to talking about God. He made our minds to think, so why be afraid of thinking or asking hard questions? If we want to know truth, we have to seek it. God says we have not because we ask not (James 4:2) and if we seek Him with our whole hearts we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). I've found this to be true in my life. I hope that those who read this blog are encouraged, challenged, and catch sight of the beauty of the Gospel, which, if you're not aware, is the epic story of the God of the universe restoring our broken world and the good news of what Jesus Christ has done! If you have no idea what that means, what better reason to read this blog than to find out?!
Let's get started!
-Marc
Mi nombre es Marc Mansfield, and don't worry, that's all the spanish I'll dish out for now.
Welcome to my blog!
If you don't know me already, here's a brief summary of my life. (If you don't want to read it all, you can skip to the last paragraph.):
I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, a hardcore redneck baby. When I was about a year old, I began to develop a thick country accent. My parents became quite concerned and decided that it'd be best to move us somewhere far away from that place where the skies are so blue. We moved to Marietta, Georgia to a big white house where my brother Michael was born. I was about four years old at the time. From what I'm told, I used to get sick all the time and had bad asthma for the first few years of my life. My mom had to give me breathing treatments with this freaky machine that made weird noises. When I was five years old, my dad sold the business he owned, and we decided to move down to Sanford, Florida. The sunshine state was perfect for me because as soon as we moved, I stopped having asthma problems and my immune system got back up to speed. I spent my childhood in Sanford eventually attending Wilson Elementary School. I was very young for my grade because my parents had to start me early for some reason, so I was always the youngest in the class and usually one the shortest. I was never an athlete and I despised P.E. Especially when we had to run "the mile". I was always, at most, third to last, and afterward when we were all hot and sweaty they would tell us to pretend like we were in the North Pole so we wouldn't feel so hot. I could never quite figure that trick out! I was definitely more of the musical type. I joined the chorus and got some pretty good roles in the school plays and the ones at church too. We attended Central Baptist Church while we lived in Sanford and I have some great memories from that place.
Eventually I attended Christian Home & Bible School in Mt. Dora, FL from middle school all the way through senior year. It was quite the drive away from my home in Sanford and my family eventually moved closer. Looking back, I had an incredible time there. Despite a few bullying problems in middle school, I did make some great friends who I'm still friends with today. One of the most impactful times during my high school career was during the summer after 10th grade. I got to go on a mission trip to Panama, and that is where God really got a hold of my life and blew my doors off! I saw Him do incredible things there and I was never the same. One person who made a really huge impact on my life was my youth pastor from our church in Mt. Dora, Michael Hill. He came to Mt. Dora my senior year and began investing in my life, mentoring me, and challenging me to really follow God like never before. He taught me a lot and helped equip me for the next step of my life! College!!!
I'm currently currently a Junior studying accounting at the University of Florida. I hope to get my masters in accounting and use that as a means to support myself and allow me to do the things that I'm passionate about, missions and ministry! I'm excited to see how God will use me. It's been quite a journey so far. I've made some incredible friends, had some great experiences, and I look forward to great things to come! A few interests of mine: I like to make techno and dubstep music. I play guitar and piano. I like to swing dance on Friday nights! I like listening to folk music. My favorite bands currently are the Oh Hello's and Rend Collective Experiment. Though I used to hate it growing up, I now love to run! I have a passion for the Spanish language and Hispanic culture, though I am a gringo by default. I love the country of Panama in particular, and I got to return there this summer for the fourth time with an organization called Awe Star Ministries!
I got the idea to start a blog a few weeks ago. I'm calling it "Student of the Word." The idea came from a man named Walker Moore, the president of Awe Star. During my mission training this summer, He talked about how we must become students of the Word of God (the Bible). That is what I am striving to be and want to inspire others to be too. Not only do I want to be a good student of my university, I want to be a good student of Jesus Christ (which is what the word disciple means). As a college student, I have to use my mind a lot and attempt to be smart to get good grades! I'm here to prove that we don't have to turn our minds off when it comes to talking about God. He made our minds to think, so why be afraid of thinking or asking hard questions? If we want to know truth, we have to seek it. God says we have not because we ask not (James 4:2) and if we seek Him with our whole hearts we will find Him (Jeremiah 29:13). I've found this to be true in my life. I hope that those who read this blog are encouraged, challenged, and catch sight of the beauty of the Gospel, which, if you're not aware, is the epic story of the God of the universe restoring our broken world and the good news of what Jesus Christ has done! If you have no idea what that means, what better reason to read this blog than to find out?!
Let's get started!
-Marc
Comments
Post a Comment