Hi! My name is Randy Christian, and I belong to Jesus—and yes, I had the name before I met the Lord. I grew up in the Air Force, not belonging anywhere and not feeling I belonged to anyone. Early in my life I tried to deal with the results of feeling that way by excelling physically, and by covering the feelings with alcohol and drugs. I started drinking when I was 11 years old, and by the time I was in high school I realized that nothing was going to fill the emptiness I experienced. Then I met the Lord. Yes, I know, it sounds trite, but there it is. In the first year of my relationship with the Lord he removed my need for drugs and alcohol, and taught me that I did belong—to Him.
A few months after high school I married my girlfriend, Donna, and moved to California. I wouldn’t wish the first few years on anyone, but God is patient and faithful, and he saw us through. We have been married since August of 1974, and marrying her was the best stupid thing I have ever done! We have three children and three children-in-law, all of whom also belong to Jesus. God has given us eleven grandchildren and we love seeing them grow and learn and experience life.
I have served the Lord since I met him, as a youth minister, a chaplain, a preacher, a counselor, a teacher, a professor—as a husband, a father and a grandfather–and of all the things I have experienced in all those years, I have not experienced boredom. I live my life dedicated to knowing Jesus, and being faithful to Him.
I try to enjoy the life God has given me. I love the trails, though my joints don’t allow me to run as I used to. I love music and I have a wide variety on my music list. I am a voracious reader of both the profound and mundane, with a preference for historical mysteries. I ride a red 2001 Goldwing 1800—a lot—and enjoy the occasional times my wife rides with me. God has given me many friends over the years, and they are very different from one another.
The term “Faith Footprint” came to me when I was preparing to speak at a conference. Between the time I was asked to speak, and the conference itself, I went through a series of medical tests. For almost a month, I waited to learn whether the condition I had was one which would impact my life, or one which would end it in a short time. During that time, the reality of my faith—or sometimes my lack of it—was driven home to me. By the time I got the phone call telling me I did not have cancer, the Lord had effectively reminded me to use whatever time He allows me—months, years or decades—to make an impact in others’ lives—an impact that would hopefully point them to my Lord. Several years later I was diagnosed with a rare and incurable blood cancer. In 2016 I celebrated my 60th birthday by undergoing hematologic stem cell transplant. I experienced many things I never dreamed I would go through, and I continue to learn new ways it has affected me. In all of this, I continue to pray that God will give me the grace to be faithful to Him. This blog is one more way I can express the impact he has made in my life, and pass it on to others.