High School in Sullivan, Missouri. I entered high school determined to be a good person; no cigarettes, drugs, or alcohol for me. Unfortunately, my convictions changed toward the end of my high school years, and I began to abuse alcohol with my friends as we met for parties at creek crossings, at someone's cabin, or a house when the parents were gone. Soon, the small lies turned into bigger lies as I tried to hide from my parents the truth of my late night activities. Reckless driving, parties, property and mailbox destruction, poaching, alcohol abuse, wine making, and the list goes on. But I went to church on Sunday and still thought I was a Christian.
Somewhere in the middle of my high school years, my family left the little country church I grew up in and became members of Trinity Presbyterian Church, in Union, Missouri. The church was a little larger, definitely more conservative, and most of it's teaching was based on covenant theology and Calvinism. The large variation of people in the church taught me to be more loving and accepting of those who are different from me. However, did rinking always brought out the worst in me, and since the common view was that it's okay to drink alcohol as long as you don't get drunk, I continued to drink and abuse alcohol.