Everything culminated in that moment.

I was sitting across from my college advisor about to unfold the news that I was no longer attending UCA. I still planned to live in Conway, but decided that college wasn't the route for me. It was time to pursue my strongest passion: music. As I explained to my advisor the reasons that I wasn't coming back the next semester, I literally pictured in my mind all the doors I was forcibly slamming closed. But hey, I was 19 and had my whole life ahead of me. If I didn't seize the moment I might have become a resentful old man.

This decision began when I was in seventh grade. I met a boy a few houses down from mine that could wale on a guitar like no one I had ever seen. After forging a friendship we made an agreement: he would teach me guitar and I would teach him my newfound band instrument, the baritone.

As often happens during adolescence, I quickly lost my friend to a girl. I never saw the pact come to fruition. Instead I purchased a guitar and taught myself how to become a rocker.

What might surprise you is that I fell in love with the band Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen appeared like a guitar god as he shredded his way through some of the most remarkable techniques I had ever seen. To this day he's probably one of the biggest influences in my learning of the guitar.

So all throughout school I had two dueling loves: the guitar and the baritone, also called the euphonium. When graduation came and I had to make a responsible decision about my future it only made sense to accept the scholarship to UCA and major in music education. But it wasn't my guitar that paved the way, it was my euphonium. So for that moment in time I put my guitar on the back burner and tried to become a band director.

But the more I saw my life fleeting from me the passion to play guitar began to override everything. I went to see a band in Memphis while in college and realized that I too wanted to be touring the states, making music and fronting a rock band. The passion so engulfed me that I made the decision to put college on hold and pursue my original dream. I didn't know if would step foot on a college campus ever again.

The humorous aspect of this whole endeavor is reliving the moment through aged lenses. The opposite turned out for me. I thought I would regret not pursuing my dream and being stuck in college salvaging a half-passionate job. But now that I'm older, I wish I would have stayed and completed my education. But like I mentioned earlier, at least I won't die a bitter old man not knowing what could have been.

So what happened to the whole rock band thing? Right after quitting college a few friends of mine created a band called Starfalls Lookout. We were actually a good band and were developing a following. But it wasn't too far into the journey that I accepted Christ as Savior and felt an inclination for ministry. After becoming a Christian I quit the band, moved home and waited for God's direction.

The sad thing about the whole endeavor is that I haven't picked up a guitar much since those rock band days. At least not to the extent that I once did. Just last night I led worship at a church in Paragould and my fingers are still aching from playing. But I'm sure I wasn't bestowed this gift for no reason and one day I'll be using it again.

So for a brief moment I got to live my dream as a rocker. Now my dream is to serve Jesus. I'll have to admit it's a much more fulfilling dream to pursue.