WHAT SHAPES YOUR IDENTITY
Identity-transforming life moments
Today, I want to talk about a couple of “firsts” in my life because these experiences played a big role in shaping who I am.
The first noteworthy “first” (quite a mouthful, lol) is my first car accident. Back when I was a junior in high school, I had just started dating Jenna. A few months before that, I had bought a little Ford Ranger that was only 4 years old!
I got a fantastic deal on it. It had a few quirks, but overall, it was in great shape for a high schooler!
Jump ahead a few months, right after Jenna and I began dating. I woke up early to pick up a kid from the other side of the county for an FFA event.
So, I was up earlier than usual. We spent the day at the event, and afterward, I took Jenna out on a date. We didn’t stay out too late because I was a bit tired. On my way home, about 5 miles from the house, I fell asleep and drifted off the road.
All I can recall from the accident is opening my eyes as I jumped over a county road, just like in The Dukes of Hazzard. I shut my eyes again because I didn’t want to see what would happen next. A few seconds later, I opened my eyes again, and the truck was in the middle of rolling over, and I was upside down.
After everything was done, I opened the door and tried to find my cell phone (remember rollover minutes? Yeah, it was back then, lol). But… I couldn’t find it. At that time, I was part of the volunteer fire department, and so was my brother. So, I called him on the radio and calmly asked for his help at the little school.
Luckily, it wasn’t too late—around 10:30 p.m.
He didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his gun, thinking I had hit a deer, and rushed up to where I was. When he arrived, I was clearing the road to prevent another accident with any debris that might have flown off my truck.
Shortly after Russ got there, I used his bag phone (remember those?) to call Mom and Dad. I let them know I was okay but had been in an accident. No need to worry; I’ll be home soon.
After that, we called dispatch to have an officer come out and tag the truck, so they wouldn’t get a ton of crazy calls about it.
Then I got into Rusty’s truck, and we drove back home.
This one event made me think about a few things. One is that I could have died that night, but God chose to save me. It made me realize that God is real.
The second thing is that when someone needs help, you don’t ask questions. Even if they need help because the decision they made wasn’t great, you just help them.
The second “first” I want to talk about is when our first son, Billy, was born!
Jenna and I were quite young when we had our first child. We started dating in our junior year of high school, got engaged right after graduation, and a year later, we were married. So, by the time we were 19, we had been together for 3 years, bought a new truck, and were married.
Right after getting married, we talked and decided to start our family right away. We got married in June, and by August, we were pregnant with Billy.
He was supposed to arrive on our 1-year anniversary, but the little guy decided to show up a few weeks early. That’s okay; we still love him. Lol.
William Robert Greer, also known as Billy, was born between 3 and 3:15 PM in Durango, Colorado, on 6/3/2006. That moment changed my identity forever.
From that day on, I became a father.
I know I was technically a dad before that, but in my mind, it was confirmed on that date that I was now a father! I still remember it vividly, like it was yesterday.
On the first night after Billy was born, I hardly slept at all. This turned out to be the only night for the next 10 years that Jenna would sleep through the night. But I didn’t sleep much either. Billy was in our room, and I would walk over to the little crib thing that the hospital uses for newborns, just to watch him.
I was super excited about what lay ahead. Watching him learn to walk and talk, his first 4-wheeler ride, teaching him to drive, going on trips, fishing, hunting, seeing him grow older and wiser, watching him start a family of his own, and so much more—all these thoughts crossed my mind.
I was terrified! This little human is now my responsibility. I had the task of doing everything I could to provide a great childhood for him and give him a loving home to grow up in. To teach him how to treat people, just like my parents taught me.
I could feel the weight of the world on my shoulders for this tiny baby who wasn’t even 24 hours old yet.
You see, in those moments, my identity changed forever. As one of my favorite country singers, George Strait, says in his song “The Breath You Take,” “Life’s not the breath you take” but “the moments that take your breath away.”
The point is that those moments shape who we are meant to be. They make us who we are meant to be.
Today, I want to encourage everyone reading this to pause, take a deep breath, and look at the moment you are in right now. How is God working in your life at this moment to shape your life?
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