THE PERSON / THE CONVICTIONS
I'm Nyc.
A follower of Jesus Christ. A husband and father. An Oklahoman who is excited about the future and grateful for the real world in front of him.
I love a conversation that goes somewhere, a question that makes me think, and work that leaves something better than I found it. My interests range from Bitcoin and AI to mountain men, old ships, and a cold morning at deer camp.
There is a thread through all of it: Christ at the center, tools in their proper place, and an intentional life. I want to keep learning, think deeply, love people well, and notice the gifts that are already here.
01 / FAITH
Change begins within.
My faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the center of my life. I believe transformation begins within and comes outward. Seeking the Lord changes our beliefs, which shape our thoughts, our words, and our actions.
On an ordinary day, seeking Him looks like time in the Word, prayer, and little moments of thankfulness throughout the day. I distinguish thankfulness from gratitude: thankfulness recognizes a gift and gives thanks for it. Gratitude is a continuing posture of the mind and heart that remembers those gifts are not owed to us.
When I feel distracted, noticing the small blessings around me helps bring my attention back to the Lord. That recognition renews my confidence in who I am in Christ. Whatever the circumstances, I have Jesus, the promise of eternal life, and the hope of resurrection. I also believe every circumstance holds an opportunity for growth, and that recognizing it requires discernment through the Holy Spirit.
When our daughter was being born, I felt my thoughts moving toward fear. Recognizing that gave me an opportunity to respond differently. I recalled 2 Timothy 1:7, spoke aloud about who our God is, and prayed from faith. I look back on her birth with deep gratitude for our healthy little girl and my wife's recovery.
That is what I want my faith to look like in practice: returning to truth, trusting the Lord, and allowing that confidence to shape how I speak and live.
02 / BITCOIN
A tool for stewardship.
My interest in Bitcoin begins with the value of our work. I want people to be able to become excellent at what they do, provide for a family, and preserve the proceeds of their labor. I am troubled by a monetary system in which people feel compelled to speculate simply to keep up.
I see Bitcoin as a potential foundation for a different kind of saving. My conviction is long term, and the reasons someone values it can differ greatly. One person may care about adoption, another about an unstable local currency, and another about the ability to carry their savings across borders.
That conviction does not make near-term needs disappear. Bitcoin's price can fall sharply. If an expense is coming soon and is priced in dollars, I see a place for holding dollars for that expense. My long-term savings thesis is a different question from money I may need in a few months.
The supply limit and the network's resistance to imposed changes are central to my confidence. If those properties failed, that would challenge the foundation of my thesis. I also see a moral issue in monetary expansion that benefits a few at the expense of the purchasing power of others. That concern is an important part of why Bitcoin interests me.
But Christ remains the center. Bitcoin is a tool to steward, just as money, a vehicle, or a building can support something worthwhile. I want the resources entrusted to me to serve generosity, family, ministry, and the spread of the gospel. Strong conviction in a tool must never become worship of it.
03 / ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
More possibility. Deeper thinking.
What excites me about AI is the possibility of an extraordinary increase in human productivity. I see it in the long story of tools that expand what people can build and accomplish. My faith informs that excitement: being created in God's image makes human creativity and our ability to put it to good use deeply meaningful to me.
Personally, I want to use AI to make better use of the abilities the Lord has given me. If it can take routine work off my plate, I want to spend more time learning, reading, and bringing what I discover before the Lord for deeper discernment. There is a richness to life that we can miss when we never get beyond the next task.
The part I want to keep doing myself is the thinking. Where am I? Where have I been? Where am I trying to go? I want to become more aware, active, deep, and precise in how I think through those questions.
Responsible stewardship means learning about the tool, using it, and developing real skill. AI can be used to harm people, and it can be used to create tremendous good. I do not see misuse as a reason to abandon its possibilities. I see it as a reason to remain responsible for our purpose and how we use it.
My boundary is clear: we cannot outsource our thinking. I want AI to support human judgment and creativity while we remain responsible for the direction.
04 / NATURE & FAMILY TRADITIONS
The gift of being there.
Something refreshing about the outdoors is that it just is. The sun shines, the weather changes, the grass grows, and the animals go about their lives. There seems to be no ulterior motive. Being there reminds me of the blessings we can overlook while chasing the next material thing: breath, light on your face, and wind coming off the lake.
I grew up going to deer camp with my uncles and cousins from about six years old. Around Thanksgiving, we would spend days together in a cabin with electricity but no running water. There were cold mornings in tree stands, tree forts, long car rides, and stories we still carry with us.
We processed our deer ourselves, from the field to the meal, and I still do it that way. That experience connects me to where food comes from and to the responsibility involved in providing it. I find it sobering and deeply meaningful to give thanks for something so tangible.
My great-uncle Jerry was my hunting partner and the person who guided me out there. One of the things I treasure now is sitting beside him in folding chairs, eating peanuts and talking quietly while we hunt. The relationship and all those years of shared experience matter enormously to me.
I would not describe myself today as someone whose greatest passion is hunting. My passion is for the experiences it gave me: family, anticipation, practical confidence, discomfort, gratitude, and contact with the world God created. That is what I want to pass on to the next generation: the opportunity to experience it themselves.
05 / WORK & FAMILY
Be intentional. Be useful.
I work in sales for US Foods. The most meaningful days are the ones when I connect with someone beyond the immediate business conversation. I enjoy learning about their family, hearing what excites them, and giving them the experience of being heard. Helping someone solve a legitimate problem with a useful solution is another part of the work I love.
I believe communication is a gift the Lord has given me, and I want to use it faithfully. I also find a different kind of fulfillment in physical work. At the lake, clearing driftwood from the bank can mean hours of lifting, gathering, and getting hot and tired. At the end, I can look at a clean bank and know I put my hands to it. There is a satisfaction in that visible result.
Some days, everything seems to move forward. Other days, I can put in the effort and see very little progress. I try to measure my part by intention: did I make a plan, put in the time, and work faithfully toward it? I want to remain spiritually attentive and trust the Lord with the direction.
Family has naturally been my priority. I want to spend time with my wife and daughter, and with the people we love. I value diligent work, but I do not measure my worth by how many hours I can give it.
One area where I want to grow is giving more deliberate attention to the many details and moving parts of my work. I also want to be more intentional with my family and in seeking the Lord. Those are responsibilities worth my focus.
06 / HISTORY & FOCUS
Look back. Pay attention.
I am drawn to Ernest Shackleton, the American mountain men and beaver trappers, old ships, and life in the American West of the 1700s and 1800s. Ancient construction, engineering, and tools fascinate me too. The common thread is life in direct contact with the physical world.
If I could spend time working alongside people from one of those settings, I would choose the mountain men. I would want to understand what commanded their attention. They had to notice the nature around them and deal with what was in front of them. That is a compelling contrast to how easily our attention today can be consumed by distant news.
History also helps me understand how we arrived here. I want to know the steps, decisions, and inventions behind the world we now take for granted.
What I want to bring forward from that study can be said in one word: focus. I am excited about technology, and grateful for the comforts it makes possible. I also want to notice when those comforts and distractions create distance from the life I am actually living.
More attention to the Lord, my family, and the work in my hands. Less attention to things that have no meaningful connection to my life. That is a direction I want to keep growing toward.
“Set your minds on things above,
not on earthly things.”
COLOSSIANS 3:2 · NIV