Blake is Battle-Tested

Blake’s Background:
“My father was in and out of jail several times when I was young.  My parents divorced when I was two or three years old.  Our family split up with them.  My two older sisters went to live in one place with my mother.  My older brother and I went to live in another place, with our Great Aunt Martha, in a town about 20 minutes away.  It was supposed to be a temporary solution, but it wound up being permanent.

“My mom visited occasionally early on, but then got remarried and moved to Florida.  She took my sisters with her, but my brother and I stayed with Martha.  She took us to Six Flags when I was six years old.  I didn’t see her again until I was eighteen years old.

“As I think back on my childhood, I only have one memory of my father.  As I recall, I was six or seven years old when he came to visit one day.  I thought he was there to visit me and my brother, but I remember he offered to buy an old car from my great grandmother.  When he was rejected, he left without even spending any time with me.  I was left feeling even less important than I did before – trumped by a car.  I didn’t see my father again until I was in college.

“My brother, Sammy, made some horrible decisions in life – petty theft, lying, dropping out of high school, teenage marriage followed by teenage divorce, as well as drug and alcohol abuse.  In October of 1999, my only brother, Sammy, committed suicide at the age of 29.  Sammy had struggled with depression for most of his life and had attempted suicide several times previously, so I knew this day might come.  Knowing it might come didn’t make it any easier.

“After my first year of college, I came to know Jesus in a very real way.  Through him I learned a lot about forgiveness.

Blake’s Legacy Shepherding Experience:
“I’ve been mentored for a little over two years now.  I’m 43 years old, [Note: The target age of this ministry is usually twenties and early thirties, however, I always want to remain open to what I sense God doing, especially when God leads someone like Blake my way who is and will impact the next generation.] and I wish I would have started being mentored long ago. I have grown so much during the past two years and I have come to know myself and God in ways I couldn’t have imagined.  I think I could have been spared a lot of pain if I would have been mentored at a young age, but I accept the place where God currently has me and trust that his timing in all of this is perfect.

“Being the product of a broken home I have always been filled with a deep-seeded desire to be loved, accepted, and affirmed, but I struggled with being able to accept that I was worthy of those things – including God’s love.  I was filled with much self-doubt that, I realize now, held me back so often in life.  Because of the doubt and feelings I had about myself, I often put on a false-self that I thought others would like more than the real me.

“Through spiritual mentoring I’ve come to embrace that God does love me and cares for me.  As I grow in my confidence and self-worth I feel much less inclined to be someone I am not.

“Having never had any consistent, positive male role models in my life as I grew up, I have often questioned if I was “man enough” or “had what it takes”.  I believe that God is using mentoring to help initiate me into manhood.  God is the Father that I need to make me confident of the man that I am.

“I’ve learned that Satan has held me back so many years by using lies to convince me that I am a sub-par human being.  Through spiritual mentoring I have learned to recognize Satan’s lies and speak truth to refute them instead of buying into them.  Satan’s grip on me is weakening.  I’m so thankful for that!

Blake is Battle-Tested:
“For God to bring me through what he brought me through, He must have some plans for me.  I knew I was part of God’s army, but I felt like I was in the back…playing a support role.  I never thought that I was worthy of being on the front line.

“God gave me an idea… ‘Hey Blake, I want you to help men become better men.  I want you to help boys where men have failed them in life’.  After completing an endurance event in 2012 and living in the euphoria of victory over my self-doubt, God blessed me with a vision for Battle-Tested.

“Battle–Tested is an organization that provides ‘Battles’ for men (teen boys included) that challenge them to become better men – physically, mentally, and morally.  Each Battle is designed to push men to their physical limits.  Each Battle has a theme intended to help strengthen a man’s character: Integrity, Commitment, Courage, Loyalty, Service, and Forgiveness.

“A portion of each man’s registration fee goes toward non-profit organizations that provide services to fatherless boys.”

Video Testimonial for Mission Church:

[Check out this video of Blake to get a glimpse of his strong and tender heart.  This video makes me tear up every time I see it.  Get your tissue ready.]

“God has moved me from the back of the ranks to the front of the line in His battle, and my past is no longer the enemy in front of me but it’s my ally behind me.

“I am Blake.  And I am Battle-Tested.” – Blake Williams.

Family Update:
“My Mom and I have developed a great relationship since my college years and I’m so thankful for her and the role she now plays in my life.  I only began forming a relationship with my Dad a couple years ago after he sent me a birthday card for the first time ever when I turned 40.  We are still getting to know each other.”

Randy’s Random Thoughts:
Sometimes, when we’ve missed out on something important in life, a passion forms around that area.  We become “Wounded Healers”, helping others who have also missed out and been wounded in similar ways.

Out of Blake’s background, God has grown in him a passion to raise up men – men who will be good fathers, good husbands, men of character, men who hopefully may also help Blake fill in the gap for some fatherless boys.

When you meet Blake, it’s hard to believe that his background could be what it was.  He is so strong, kind, and loving.  Men look to him as an example of what it means to be a loving, godly man…including me.  For a man who was fatherless, he exudes a fatherly, masculine presence.

Blake is a difference maker.  He is impacting the next generation.

(And check out those abs!  Blake was the winner of the Men’s Health magazine’s 2005 Diet Abs Contest!  He won the car in the photo for winning the contest!  Note: I look a lot like that with my shirt off too…but then I pinch myself and, unfortately, wake up to reality.)

How You Can Make A Difference:
Guess what time of year it is… Yep, it’s year-end support raising time!  Wahooo!

I believe in this ministry beyond words and am continually seeing inspiring life-change that moves out into the world bringing about positive results.

I joyfully invite you to partner with me in this divinely empowered ministry of developing and mentoring young Christian leaders (and those who are impacting them, like Blake), leaders who are making and will make a loving impact on our world.

Will you please pray for this ministry?  While you consider your year-end giving, would you please prayerfully consider investing financially in the next generation of Christ-following leaders?  What will the world be like without them?

Contributions are tax deductible!

You can email me at randy@legacyshepherding.org

Thank you so much for joining me on this amazing journey.  You are making a difference.

In His Love,
Randy