Who is Gareth?  Logical question, and why should you read my blog?  That part, I can’t answer, but I can talk about who I am and what might drive my blog.

I’ll try to write this in the order of importance to me.  First, I am a Christian.  No, I am not one of those people who claim to be a Christian because my parents are, baptized at a young age; I’m an actual Christian.  I made a conscious decision at the age of 21 to follow Jesus Christ, my Lord.  It was not a decision I made lightly, and I have never regretted it.  My stand is best described by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, chapter 1, verses 16 – 17:

Next, I am husband to an incredible woman, her name is Fe.  God brought Fe to the USA in 1988 to become my wife eight years later.  He revealed this plan to me in 1992, but I refused to believe this.  In 1995, I could no longer deny His plan, and we were married in 1996.  Our coming together was a miracle in itself and I could never have selected a better mate in my life.  She is beautiful, vibrant, wise, anything anyone could want in a life partner.

Next, I am a parent to an awesome young man by the name of Christian.  Christian was born on October 31, 2001 in China.  We learned we would become his parents in August 2002, and on October 23, 2002, we met him at the Shang Hai orphanage in China.  My parents met us at JFK airport when we returned from China and within minutes, my mother said that we could not have produced a child more like me in a million years.  I recognized this fact and braced myself for the coming years.  Parenthood has challenges I never imagined, but again, I have no regrets.

While Christian is the only son Fe and I have, there have been other children I adopted over the years, all of whom I love dearly, but two are of particular importance.  One is Frank.  I met Frank a few years back, in 2005, shortly after joining the Men of Proverbs at Pleasant Valley Assembly of God (PVAG).  Men of Proverbs is the men’s fellowship at PVAG, which meets every Saturday morning.  Frank would help set up breakfast and was a dedicated member.  Frank asked me for voice lessons (I am a trained singer) and the bond between us was formed.  Frank never ceases to amaze me in his sensibilities and his caring.  Sure, many have negative things to say about him and I find him a little heavy on the nerves at times, but the essence of Frank is someone I am proud to call son.

The other is Jason.  Jason is another challenging soul, but like Christian and Frank, he is worth the effort of getting to know, because when you peel back the gruff exterior, you find another young man with a huge heart.  Jason is the father of a little boy and will soon have a daughter.  I love watching Jason with his son and even with Christian, who calls Jay his big brother.  When I first met Jason, I didn’t like him, but I try not to allow my first impressions to dictate my views, as they are often wrong.  Today, I am proud of my oldest son.

The other things that make up the person, Gareth, will be expounded through later blogs, I’m sure, but here are a few:  I am a student teacher, about to embark on a profession I’ve wanted to pursue for over thirty years.  I have full intention to eventually obtain a PhD in English and retire as an English professor some day.  As mentioned earlier, I’m a trained singer who pursued a career in hard rock for many years.  Today, I sing mostly in church, though I love to jam with my old friends on when the opportunity arises.  I also consider myself a loyal, dedicated friend.

Well, this is enough for now.  I don’t want to make these blogs too long as I don’t want to bore people at length.  😀

I hope to get to know some of you.