I remember tears sliding down my face outside of a shell gas station.

I was landscaping at the time.

It was a hundred degree weather outside.

And I had a weed whacker in my hand and John Maxwell in my ears.

We had actually just moved to Sacramento so I can go to college.

I was taking a full load.

We had zero money.

And Krista and I were living in a single bedroom at my brother and sister-law's house.

And where we all went to school, we actually have a text called the dorms to commemorate this time. But I had left a thriving piano studio behind to start

over to start school, and that meant moving to Sacramento. And I was building this new

studio, piano studio, out of their living room.

So thank you so much, Curtis and Karina, for allowing us to stay at your house.

And it was difficult starting over.

And I remember, well, we had to have money, so I took a job doing landscaping.

And that day, I remember I pulled over, I was just standing on the sidewalk there.

And with the weed wacker in a hand, shirt soaked with sweat.

And if you've ever run a weed whacker for hours on end, you know that your hands vibrate. And I just remember standing

there kind of looking blankly at the shell sign. And I remember I had direction, I had passion,

but I felt invisible and I felt insignificant. The questions I was asking then, I didn't really dare

say out loud, but I felt in my heart, you know, the question, will I ever amount to anything?

Will I ever make a difference? And I really, really wanted my life to matter.

And it wasn't a single sentence that changed everything for me,

...