A Year on the Road, in the Pulpit, Behind the Mic, and Among the People: My 2025 After‑Action Reflection
2025 was the year everything sharpened. Not just my schedule, but my voice. Not just my gigs, but my purpose. Not just my ministry, but the way I share it with the world.
Sixteen events. Ten gigs. Five preaching engagements. One major cultural gathering. And two podcast transformations that mark a new era in my storytelling.
This is my after‑action reflection — a look at what I did, what I learned, and who I became along the way.
Winter Beginnings: The First Notes of the Year
February 14 — Gig
The year opened with a Valentine’s Day performance — a reminder that the blues is love music too. Honest love. Grown‑folk love. The kind that sits in the chest and hums.
Spring: Pulpits and Stages
March 23 — Preaching
My first sermon of the year. Guest preaching always feels like stepping into someone else’s story and being trusted to speak truth into it.
April 18 — Preaching
Another pulpit, another congregation, another chance to pour out what God has been pouring into me.
May 16 & May 25 — Gigs
Two gigs in one month. The Blusician stayed busy, and the guitar stayed warm. Every show reminded me that music is ministry too — just tuned differently.
Summer: Family, Community, and the Open Road
June 15 — Gig
Father’s Day weekend blues. A good crowd, a good groove, and a good reminder that joy is holy.
July 5 — Family Gig
No stage lights. No pressure. Just love. Sometimes the most important performances are the ones that never make social media.
July 11–16 — Indian Bike Week
Indian Bike Week 2025
This was a milestone.
Indian Bike Week is a world of its own — chrome, engines, stories, and the kind of people who appreciate authenticity. For six days, I lived in the intersection of culture, community, and calling.
I wasn’t just performing. I was present.
Listening. Laughing. Praying. Playing.
Being a pastor without a pulpit and a musician without a stage.
IBW reminded me that ministry can happen anywhere — even in a parking lot full of motorcycles.
Fall: The Most Active Season of the Year
September 27 — Farmer’s Market
College Park Farmers Market 2025
Community gigs are where the real connections happen. People stop because something in the sound touches something in their spirit.
October 26 — Preaching
Back to the pulpit with renewed clarity.
October 31 — Gig
Halloween blues. A night full of energy and edge.
November 8 — Gig
Another room, another crowd, another chance to tell the truth through strings and soul.
November 16 — Preaching
This sermon felt like a culmination — the year’s lessons rising to the surface.
November 28 — Gig
Thanksgiving weekend. Gratitude in every note.
Winter: Closing the Year with Purpose
December 6 — Gig
Holiday blues — tender, reflective, hopeful.
December 14 — Preaching
My final sermon of the year (so far) A fitting close to a year of showing up in every way I know how.
A Major Milestone: The Evolution of My Voice Behind the Mic
2025 wasn’t just about where I went — it was about what I said, and how I said it.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” — Psalm 34:18
“Faith’s Journey” → “Broken and Believing”
This wasn’t a rebrand. It was a revelation.
“Faith’s Journey” was a good title, but it was crowded. Too many voices using the same phrase. Too many echoes. Not enough room for the raw, blues‑soaked honesty that defines my ministry.
“Broken and Believing” is unmistakably mine.
It speaks to the people I serve — the ones who are hurting but hopeful, wounded but walking, cracked but still carrying light. It’s the heart of my ministry, distilled into three words.
This shift marks the beginning of a movement, not just a podcast.
“Behind the Rose” — A New Podcast for The Blusician
This was the other half of the transformation.
“Behind the Rose” gives me a place to talk about the craft — the fretboard lessons, the stories behind the songs, the discipline of practice, the spiritual side of music, and the journey of becoming a Blusician.
It’s intimate.
It’s honest.
It’s legacy work.
Together, these two podcasts form a complete picture of who I am:
• Broken and Believing — my soul
• Behind the Rose — my craft
Two lanes. One voice.
What 2025 Taught Me
1. Consistency is its own ministry
Showing up — month after month — builds trust and momentum.
2. My identity is integrated now
Pastor. Musician. Storyteller. Advocate.
Not separate roles — one calling expressed in different ways.
3. Community matters more than crowds
Farmer’s markets, family gatherings, bike rallies — these are the places where real ministry happens.
4. My voice is clearer than ever
The podcast shifts weren’t cosmetic. They were spiritual. They were strategic. They were necessary.
5. I’m building something bigger than events
This year laid the foundation for Broken and Believing, for new music, for civic engagement, for storytelling, for legacy.
Looking Ahead
2025 was a year of alignment. A year of clarity. A year of becoming.
In 2026, I want to:
• Preach with more intention
• Play with more freedom
• Write with more courage
• Build community with more depth
• And keep telling the truth — through sermons, through strings, through stories, through podcasts
If this year taught me anything, it’s this:
I am broken and believing.
I am behind the Rose.
And I am still becoming.
