I grew up in a military family. From my earliest memories I can remember leaving good friends every four years, with the unfulfilled promises of keeping in touch. Yeah, we tried to keep in touch, but after meeting new friends at the new assignment, the phone calls and letters soon stopped.

Now I am grown and have my own family. My beautiful wife Audrea and I are approaching our eight-year anniversary. We have three wonderful boys, Cody (seven), Jeremy (five), and Jacob (three).

My wife and I were baptized in the South Sector of the Köln Church of Christ in Germany. The south sector is a section of the church about two and a half hours south of Köln. It is made up primarily of military members and their families. During our studies our family grew as we accepted about 20 disciples and their children as our brothers and sisters.

In 2001, I received an assignment for Hurlburt Field, Florida. My family and I once again packed our bags and moved to a location two and a half hours from the nearest church. We quickly accepted the disciples here as our family. It is a necessity if you want to survive spiritually when you are away from the main body of the church six days out of the week.

To me, families are the people you have in your life who are with you in good times and in bad. They are there to help you make ends meet, help you out of the holes that you may get in at times, and help you to be a good parent. Some members of my family are Adam and Nikki, who don't have any kids of their own, but are always willing to take our kids overnight so my wife and I can have a romantic night. Ray and Doreen love to have all five of us in their home to hang out and laugh, play games, eat dinner, and just have a great time. Bob has two kids that he has raised on his own. He is much older than I am, but came to me for advice on asking Susan to be his girlfriend. All the rest of the disciples here are members of my family. My wife and I love them like they are our blood, and when we watch them move, we are always filled with tears.