Greetings From the New Guy in Town

It has been suggested that I introduce myself here. I stumbled across this forum/family while researching something that sounded too good to be true, and of course, it is. Sadly, numerous posts in these forums confirmed everything I suspected about the latest miracle cure for Tinnitus.

So, the introduction:

I am Damon Gray.

By trade, I am a geek, employed in Business Services IT for Anvil Corporation in Bellingham, WA, having worked in software development since 1995. In addition to my IT work, I am a public speaker, freelance writer, and the author of Finding Faith in Slow Motion. Prior to that, I served in full-time ministry, mostly with university students, and most of that at the University of Kansas. Full-time ministry can be brutal, so I constantly encourage audiences and individuals to be kind to your pastors. As Chuck Swindoll once said, "Only those who have ministered publicly, understand the strain of public ministry."

I am a fairly driven man, and very relationally oriented. I enjoy those late night talks, which often drag on into early morning talks, growing deeper and more profound as the night moves forward. I cherish those friends with whom long periods of silence are okay, where people can simply look at one another and know the message is, "Chatter isn't necessary. I just like being with you." My dearest friend in the world is my high-school sweetheart, my wife, Alean Melinda.

Alean and I exercise, and consider ourselves fortunate to live in an area with an abundance of hiking trails, multiple mountain peaks, bicycle trails, snow and water sports, and more. It is easy, and thrilling to get deep into God's creation in the Pacific Northwest. Alean and I are both musicians, having met in high school band.

I am fascinated by politics in the sense that I am intrigued by it and repulsed all at the same time. It is like watching a bad car wreck, or watching the World Trade Center buildings fall. It is horrifying, but we keep looking, right? Politics is like that for me, repulsive, but I keep following it.

I took my undergraduate degree from Baker University, in Baldwin City, KS, studying Mass Communication with an emphasis in radio broadcasting and newsprint. A year later, I enrolled in Harding University School of Biblical Studies where I studied the Bible for two years straight. It is the most difficult thing I have ever undertaken, an accelerated program that resembled trying to take a sip from a fire-hose. I later completed my studies at Capella University, earning a Master of Business Administration with emphasis on Information Technology Management.