My wife Kathy grew up here in Plainfield, and I grew up in Hinsdale, IL. 30 years ago, when we decided to start a family, we moved to Plainfield because it would be close to Kathy's family, and it seemed like an excellent place to raise children. Our children, Meghan (29) and Cody (27), have lived here all their lives and have enjoyed the schools and other activities Plainfield has to offer. Shortly after Meghan was born, I started to sense something was missing in my life. I thought it was success and money. I was trying to build three businesses and failing in two of them, never seeing my young family, and sliding deeper and deeper into debt. While attending a business conference, I went to an optional Christian service to network with some other business people that might be there. The speaker that day was a construction worker who talked about God in really simple terms. I don't know all that he said, but he talked about how going to heaven was like taking a flight. He said that when we got to the counter to purchase the ticket, we would not have enough to buy it because everything we had done wrong in our lives would increase the price beyond what we could ever pay. The ticket agent would start to turn us away, but if we knew Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives, Jesus would go up to the ticket agent and say, "No! No! It is okay. I have already bought a ticket. He is my friend. He will sit with me. Let him through." When I heard those words, I knew I wanted Jesus as my friend. I decided that day to learn more and understand what this all meant. I started reading the bible and listening to messages on the radio to understand more. Later that week, a man I saw on a sales call had a bible next to him. I told him what I had heard and asked him what it all meant. He leads me through the scriptures and a prayer, and I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of my life. Since that time, God has brought about a lot of changes in my life. Kathy and I went from never attending church in our married lives to being there every Sunday. We fell in love with the richness of God's word and began to study it and enjoy fellowship with Him. As we grew, we also started serving in our local church and finding joy in that as well. About 17 years ago, John Stillman (Preaching Pastor) and I started feeling God calling us into a greater commitment to ministry. John and I partnered together with some other core families, and we launched Crosswinds Church in 2005. I am excited to continue to let more people in Plainfield know that their ticket has been purchased and that the most exciting thing in life is not success and money but knowing your purpose and the One who gave you that purpose.