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After NHS...Attend NCSU for 2 years on a baseball scholarship; came back to Greensboro and completed my undergraduate degree at Guilford College in '83. While there, I continued to play baseball. My return home allowed me to help with my family as my father battled cancer before he passed away six months later.
After graduating from college, I trained in the banking industry and worked for three years as a manager of a local branch bank. I left that position to pursue being a high school teacher and coach...a move that may people though was crazy!
What began as an experiment turned out to be a life-long passion. I taught and coached in high school for 13 years; then went to a school in Winston-Salem to serve as the secondary principal for five years. During that time I completed a master's degree and started a doctorate degree in education. I finished the doctorate degree in 2007. I had begun as a professor of education in 2004 at what was then Piedmont International University in Winston-Salem, where I served as the Dean of the School of Education for a decade. It was a joy to have the opportunity to help train a new generation of teachers. I also traveled some as a workshop leader for schools and regional education conventions. I left that position in 2020 with 34 years in education. Several months later my part-time pastoral staff position at Gospel Baptist Church (GSO) became full-time as I stepped into the role of executive pastor.
In 1990 I married Kellie Bush (NE grad 1982); she is Joan Bush's (who graduated NE in '79) younger sister. Our courtship began after both of us were out of college. When we met, I was a high school teacher and she was an elementary teacher at another school. She taught for nine years, but left teaching shortly after we began our family. We have 2 children and reside in north Guilford County.
My family's biggest adventures have involved international travel opportunities. Three times since 2008 I went on teaching assignments to Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was quite an experience to go into a third-world country, but very rewarding to teach some very committed students.
My wife, son, and daughter spent a week in Jamaica on a mission trip with our church during Thanksgiving In 2010. This was the third such trip for Kellie and Houston. I wasn't a part of this trip due to a speaking obligation in Raleigh.
In July, 2010, Kellie and I went to Beijing and Kunming, China, for almost three weeks as part of a team of educators to help train Chinese teachers of English. It was a wonderful personal and professional experience.
I didn't lose my love for baseball, I played competitively after college in semi-pro and adult leagues until age 35. I also found a way to spend 20 years as a youth coach, and as such, have coached players of all ages...from 6 year-olds to college level. As a high school coach (Vandalia Christian School) I coached 7 teams to the state final four and won two state championships. I also served as an All-star coach for the Greensboro Colt League (15-16 year-olds).
In June 2012 I took a team of 17 local players from 9 area high schools to the Dominican Republic to play baseball and participate in some local missions outreach to the sugarcane villages and orphanages. It was a wonderful experience to see what an impact this trip had on these young men as they stepped outside their comfort zone to bring food and smiles to others.
In 2015, Kellie and I went to the south Pacific, where I had speaking engagements in Papua New Guinea and Malaysia. We also got to enjoy some time in Australia and a few other stops in the journey.
Both of our children were multi-sport high school athletes and both went on to play in college. Thus, many of our life events involve being at some sort of game. It's a joy to see them learn important lessons as they competed.
My daughter graduated college with a degree in American Sign Language Interpreting. She is married with two children and living in Wake Forest, NC, where her husband recently finished his graduate degree in ministry.
My son graduated from App State with a degree in exercise science. He is married and living in Greensboro, working to remodel houses. He is also a sergeant with the Army National Guard and has done one deployment to the Middle East. He and his wife are expecting their first child in March 2023.
