Learning To Practice: Jay Osborne

𝑂𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑊𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑙𝑦 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑜𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚. 𝐼𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ’𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 20 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟, 𝑇𝑎𝑚𝑚𝑦 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑. 𝐵𝑢𝑡, 𝑟𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚, 𝑤𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑒’𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠.

Jay Osborn is one of Trinity’s most active members. He and his family attend most Sunday services (pre-Covid) and are incredibly active with the youth program. But it wasn’t always this way. Jay didn’t grow up in the church. As a kid he sporadically attended Sunday School with a friend, but for the most part, his Sundays were spent doing other things. However, God had plans for Jay. It was during his senior year in high school that a friend invited Jay to Trinity’s youth group on a random Wednesday night. “To be honest, it was a little scary and overwhelming at first.” says Jay. “I didn’t go back right away. I realized I was totally oblivious to all the Bible stories and what it meant to be a Christian. Even though I was with trusted friends, I let it get in my head that I knew absolutely nothing.”

But, eventually Jay did go back. He said he kept thinking about it and wanted to know more. “So I went back, and kept going more and more until it was just a consistent part of my week.” Jay explains, “I began learning new information, things I had never even thought about before. It was neat to experience it at an age where I could make my own decisions.” Jay’s passion for Christian living comes through in his voice each time he uses the word practice. “It was more than the fun and games. It was about practice. I learned what it truly meant to live a faith-based life, to be part of a Christian family. I became closer to my friends in youth group because they were not judgmental. It was a safe place.”

When Jay graduated in 2000 and set out to begin his adult life, he says he didn’t really go to church. He really hadn’t attended Sunday worship during high school, just the youth group. But Jay says, “I always remembered what I learned, how to practice being a Christian. When life started getting hard for me four or five years later, I wanted to be part of that kind of family again. I wanted to share a life of faith with people like me.” He says he remembered the stories, the feeling of family, and he knew God was there for him. “God led me back to church and I’ve never left.”

When Jay met his wife Jamie they began to attend Trinity together. They became very involved, even volunteering to lead the youth program for a year in between youth pastors. Now, twenty years after his life of faith began on that fateful Wednesday evening, he is the father of four beautiful children who are experiencing the joys of growing up in a faith filled home. When asked how his youth experience has shaped his life as an adult Jay says, “There is more depth in my life. I learned to give back, to serve and to be part of something bigger than myself.” He adds, “Not everyone who grows up in church finds a life of faith. And, many who do not go to church as a youth, end up living their best Christian lives. There is power in making that decision on your own, not on someone else’s time-frame. Everyone finds themselves in different places in life. I’m just glad God brought me to Trinity when he did.”

If you’ve ever wondered what becomes of our youth after they’re “done” being teenagers, here is your answer. We are grateful to all who support Trinity so that our youth can experience these powerful moments that bring them closer to God.

*𝐽𝑎𝑦 & 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝐼𝑑𝑎ℎ𝑜 (𝑎𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑛 𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑦 𝑆𝑒𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟). 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝐻𝑈𝐺𝐸 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦’𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦. 𝐽𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠, “𝑇ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐸𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑤, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑤 𝑢𝑝, 𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑐ℎ. 𝑊𝑒 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝐺𝑜𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ.” 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑠.

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