Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life.

In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. Have you ever been hesitant to share

something with someone because you know it could be taken the wrong way? I feel that way today.

I'm going to share something about my life and I hope you don't

hear me saying something that I'm not saying. It's not that big of a deal, but it is personal,

and sometimes personal stuff can feel like a big deal. When I became a Christian, my relationship

with my family changed, and from my perspective, the change wasn't for the better. It was for the

worse. As far as I know, and remember only God knows people's hearts, but as far as I know,

no one in my immediate family was or is a Christian. The only person I'm confident was a Christian

was my grandma, but grandmas are always saints to their grandsons.

Every family is messy in its own way. No family has it all together. Mine certainly didn't.

My dad left my mom when I was super young, so I don't have any memory of him. My mom raised me

with the help of my grandparents, her parents, and my aunt, her sister. She eventually got

remarried when I was about five. My mom and stepdad were very successful professionally, and I'm sure

they had expectations for me. I didn't really understand parental expectations for kids until I

had kids myself. Then I appreciated their perspective much more. Well, my first year in

college, I became a Christian, and my life changed directions. I went from seeking the same kind of

professional success my parents had achieved and hoped that I would achieve to wanting to pursue

something more like vocational ministry. I wanted to go into what some people

call full-time Christian work. So foolishly, I stopped carrying about school. I stopped carrying

about grades or learning. I didn't do anything that I didn't think was spiritual or eternal.

Now, I've talked on other episodes of 10-minute Bible talks about how I didn't

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