Jonathan Stoddard

I grew up in Colorado Springs with my parents and two sisters. During my senior year in high school, on what was essentially an impulse decision, I decided to postpone college for a semester and enlist in the Marine Corps Reserve.

After finishing basic training I moved out to Lookout Mountian, GA to start school at Covenant College. I continued to serve in the Marine Corps Reserve during college.  I met Jimmy Moncrief in the Marine Corps. 

In 2004, I graduated from Covenant College with a degree in Information and Computer science. Upon graduating I was commissioned in the Marines.

I had a few months before reporting for duty, so I decided to solo-backpack the Colorado Trail. This trail winds 486 miles from Denver to Durango. The average elevation is 10,000 feet and tops out at 13,334 feet. The trail goes through some of the most beautiful parts of Colorado and is a great "introduction" to the Colorado rockies.

I was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines based in Hawaii.  During my time with 2/3 I was deployed to Iraq twice. It was during these deployments that God taught me to really trust in him. Especially during the loss of several people who were close to me. It was also during the first deployment that I met my future wife, Lisa through eHarmony.com.

After being discharged from the Marines, Lisa and I were married and moved to my home state of Colorado. I started a business called the Kahuna Technology Group.

During August and September of 2009 I was growing more and more restless because I felt like I wasn't using my abilities for God's glory.  What was amazing was that Lisa felt the same way. God was certainly moving us towards a new direction.  

After much prayer and talking with others, I applied and was accepted to Westminster Theological Seminary where I will be starting classes the summer of 2010--just about a week after the bike ride!