About Me

This is the “About Me” page for BiblicalPOV.Com, Biblical Points of View.

Hello there! My name is Steven Gilkey, but please, call me “Steve”.

Thank you for visiting!

I don’t really like to think of anything on this website as being about anyone other than God. However, I realize many of my visitors would like to know a bit about the person who is writing all these things that they are reading, and might recommend to others. So I will try to at least give some highlights of my life, and especially how Jesus has influenced my life.

Birth

I was born in the United States, in the western part of the state of Kentucky. My birth came shortly after people first landed on the moon. Nixon was President, and the U.S. was still at war in Vietnam. The country was exiting a decade filled with unrest: the rise of the drug culture; the hippie movement; the civil rights movement; and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

It had also been a decade that saw three shocking murders: the assassinations of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and President Kennedy’s brother, Robert. Shortly after my birth, the land of that birth drove its President out of office in disgrace, and made abortion legal (well over 50 million abortions as of this writing). Within just a few years (mid-1970’s), government schools would be actively hostile towards prayer and Bibles. Copies of the Ten Commandments would be removed from the walls, and Christian students would be persecuted.

It was into this mess that God allowed me to be born. As I write this, I have lived in it my whole life. It has often reminded me of 2 Peter 2:7-8, which says:

By God‘s Grace, my earthly parents were born at the end of the Great Depression, just before World War II. They were raised in a time in the U.S. when Kentucky was considered part of the so-called “Bible Belt” (a string of states in the center of the country where the great majority of people were Christian). Both grew up in a generally “Christian” culture, and created a home where Bibles were both seen and read.

Early Childhood

In fact, I was drawn to God from a very early age. My Mom told me around the age of six that I could learn more about God as soon as I learned how to read the Bible. This made me extremely motivated to learn; and by age eight, I was reading the King James Version of the Bible (in 3rd grade, my academic aptitude in most test areas was already rated at “12.9+”, which means beyond high school graduate level). About the same time, I learned about King Solomon’s prayer for wisdom (1 Kings 3:5-15), and asked God for the same sort of blessing.

However, my youth was very difficult.

Although my parents grew up in a mostly “Christian” environment, they also grew up in an area that produced lots of tobacco. Tobacco smoking was very common. My Mom smoked cigarettes quite a lot when I was a child, and it caused me to suffer from bronchitis (from windpipe infections), sinusitis (from infections in my nose), and even conjunctivitis (from infections in my eyes).

Because the infections were so severe, there was no way for me to hide them. At school, I was teased unceasingly and without mercy for six years (kindergarten to sixth grade, ages 5 to 12).

At home, my parents began a divorce when I was eight, and it took about three years to complete. My Mom, who was mentally ill, became psychotic shortly after the divorce began; and one night, just a little before my ninth birthday, she attempted to kill me. Mom was forced to undergo psychiatric treatment; and I was forced to live with my oldest earthly sister, and undergo psychological counseling.

Things did not go well between myself and my oldest sister, and her family. Her son (one of my earthly nephews) teased me constantly. Also, although some psychological counselors help people, my “counselor” was a tormentor; and, including two hours of commuting, and time in the waiting room, the counseling required four hours each day.

During this time, I publicly acknowledged Jesus as the Christ at a local church, and was baptized with water. My only comfort was in God.

At age ten, I started living with my earthly “father”. Before my birth, he claimed to have been called to be a Southern Baptist minister, but apparently abandoned that “call” at the prompting of my Mom. Following the separation of my parents, he spent a few years in a relationship with one woman, then married later another woman, when I was about fourteen. My relationship with the first woman was much better than the second.

When my earthly “father” began his relationship with the first woman, she had a little bit of wealth. Together, they started a business that failed, and the woman’s wealth was lost. Not long after the loss, my earthly “father” revealed to me that he was planning to marry the second woman.

My earthly “father” had not told me that he was even seeing another woman before telling me that he would marry her. When he told me, he said that we would be moving to her home in eastern Tennessee. It was very shocking to me.

He also seemed to have no interest in telling the previous woman that he was leaving her and marrying someone else: it seemed he intended to marry, leave, and let the woman that he was leaving just wonder what had happened, and where he had gone. Out of pity for the woman that he was leaving, I told her what I had been told.

As for school, I had recovered from my childhood illnesses after getting away from my Mom’s smoking. However, although the children at school finally stopped their brutal teasing when I was about twelve, they still behaved as though I were some sort of pariah. I was shunned, with most of my classmates refusing to speak to me, and sometimes stepping away from me in the halls at school, as though the thought of brushing against me was disgusting. I believe I have some understanding of how lepers felt in the face of their mistreatment through the centuries.

Move to Tennessee

Thus, at age fourteen, when my earthly “father” told me that we would be moving to eastern Tennessee, I at least had the hope that my school life would improve. However, when I arrived in the new town, I found that the people there were not better. People didn’t step away from me as they had in Kentucky; but they mocked me for the accent of my speech, and for the (lack of) fashion in my clothing.

There was also a drug dealer at the school; he really hated me. I remember how he spat on me, and called me many horrible names, and threatened my life. Things were definitely not better in the Tennessee school.

At my home in Tennessee, things were also bad. To avoid any lawsuits, I will not say too much.

I will say that I went through a time when I was passing many kidney stones, and bleeding profusely. There were times when it seemed I passed more blood than urine. I was examined several times, but the doctors couldn’t determine what was wrong with me. (Note: A few years later, I discovered the cause: old vitamin C tablets. When pills are out-of-date, THROW THEM AWAY! Trust me on this.)

I was afraid that I might have an advanced cancer, like prostate cancer, that the doctors were somehow overlooking. I was scared, and I told my earthly “father” about it. He stopped taking to see doctors after that.

I’m not sure exactly why this “father” decided that it was ok for me to stop being examined, as I still had quite a lot of blood coming out in my urine at that time. At least the money for medical treatment was saved. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped a few weeks later, though I still worried about what might be happening inside of me.

My earthly “father” believed in corporal punishment (“spanking”), as do I (Proverbs 13:24). However, I do not believe in “beating” someone (severe corporal punishment).

When I was fifteen, I was in juvenile court trying to convince a judge that I feared for my safety. In court, I found it difficult to recall much of what had happened in the previous six months. I was unable to remember the events of that time until about two years later. Apparently, I had been suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD, also known as “shell shock”), a disorder typically found among soldiers that have been in combat.

The court case was against me, because I had run away from home. I had gone straight to the police, and child protective services. Nevertheless, as a runaway, I was charged with juvenile delinquency, and was in jeopardy of imprisonment in reform school.

Praise God, the judge decided that it was unreasonable to put someone in jail for going to the police. However, the judge also said that while he knew what should happen, he must follow the law, and that I would have to go back to my earthly “father”, and his wife and family. Praise God again, this “father” did not try to resist me when I asked to go back to my Mom, whose mental condition was much more stable. I couldn’t read minds, but I did feel that my earthly “father” and his wife and family were glad that I was leaving.

While waiting for my trial, I was in a runaway shelter for two months. During that time, I had contacted most of my earthly family. My Mom was the only one that would help me; and although I was very concerned about her mental condition, I decided that I really didn’t have any other choice but to go to her. Because of their refusal to help me, I became estranged from all of the family of my earthly “father”, as it remains to this day (28 years later).

First Return to Kentucky

My Mom was still in western Kentucky, so I was returning to the same school that had been so cruel to me before. It continued to be cruel when I returned. Most people just resumed their shunning of me, though there were a few people who would speak to me. There were two other people--two more drug dealers--who pushed me, and spat at me, and called me slang words that mean “homosexual” (I am NOT homosexual). A few other people joined them, limiting themselves to calling me the disgusting slang words.

However, my home-life was much better: at sixteen, it finally became much better. I was finally able to have peace for a few hours almost every day (when I was home). We were poor: my Mom received disability assistance because of her mental problems; and my step-dad had suffered a major stroke, and also needed disability assistance. But I was thankful to God to finally have moments of peace.

Return to Church

Before my earthly parents’ divorce, we had all gone to church very regularly. However, after the divorce, our church attendance became very infrequent. In eleventh grade, I tried to resume regular attendance.

For a few months, church attendance really helped me. However, when summer came, I volunteered to help with Vacation Bible School (VBS) at my church. VBS is a sort of church-schooling for young children which is conducted during the summer months in the U.S. (when regular school is not in session).

One of my jobs at VBS was to run a projector which was set up in the balcony of the church. Now, I was in the church choir, and I had the habit of singing Christian hymns to myself.; and in particular, I sang hymns softly to myself while I was setting up the projector, and waiting for the children to arrive. Apparently, another assistant (or so I was told) overheard me, and began a rumor within the church that I was singing songs to Satan (let me state clearly and directly that I never did such a thing).

Very soon after VBS ended, I started noticing that people in the church were watching me as I walked past them, and quickly moving out of my way. At first, I thought it was very strange, but I didn’t understand it; and then, I found out from a friend about the rumor. The church had begun to shun me, just like my classmates at school.

Just as I do not know with certainty who had begun the rumor, I also do not know why it was started. However, I assume it was for the same reason that Jesus was falsely accused: because wicked people hate the “light” of those who love God, and will do anything to try to extinguish that “light” (John 3:19).

Whoever started the rumor, and whatever the reason, the result was that my heart was crushed. I tried to ignore what had happened; but I soon realized that my ability to minister in the church was destroyed. After that, I stopped going to that church.

Last Year of High School

After this, and all that had come before, I started to come apart inside. I started using drugs sometimes (mostly marijuana), and drink alcohol quite often. I started smoking tobacco cigarettes, too (my Mom never stopped smoking cigarettes until her last time in the hospital). It didn’t seem that my life was able to encourage anyone; instead, people wanted to slander me with vile false accusations, or (at best) to simply avoid me. I just wanted to escape the pain of my life.

My twelfth and final year of high school was somewhat better. I was finally one of the oldest students; and the drug dealers that had tormented me had already graduated. Some of the younger students in the school would speak to me, so I wasn’t constantly alone. But I still didn’t have a consistent group of friends, even to sit with at lunch.

I was forced to work in a group in one of my required high school courses; but the other students, who had already shunned me for 12 years, wouldn’t work with me (by God’s Mercy, I was miraculously able to finish the class, and graduate). I’ve never been to a prom. I never really dated anyone.

And the shunning continued all the way to the end: everyone I graduated with ran straight from the graduation ceremony to some party. Of course, I wasn’t invited to any of those parties. The night I graduated, I just took my diploma home with me; thanked God that all those years of torment were finally over; and went to sleep.

First Year of College

When school started again, I was in college, majoring in business. I really wanted to study the Bible; but I was poor, so I needed student financial aid. And in the U.S., the government will provide financial aid to people to study anything except religious studies. (Some people lie, and say they are planning to study in a non-religion major; then officially change their majors to religion in their final year, thereby receiving assistance for the first three years of college. The result are ministers trained in fraud.)

The college was affiliated with the Southern Baptist denomination. I hoped that the students would be coming there to be in a Christian atmosphere, and that the place would be friendly to Christians. Indeed, there were some students who really cared for the Lord Jesus.

However, I found that my business classmates generally worshipped Mammon, the “god” of money. Many students in all majors showed considerable disdain for studying the Bible (one of the few actual Christian requirements of the school was that people had to attend two Bible classes before receiving a four-year degree: only two classes, in four years). It became clear that many rich parents just dumped their reprobate children into this school in the forlorn hope that they would somehow become less demonic.

If anything, I think most left more trained in evil than when they arrived. For example, one of the fraternities flagrantly operated an unlicensed still on campus, making moonshine whiskey. I was working in the security department at the time, so I am very sure that the department was aware of the whiskey. In fact, we talked about it every night because of the foul smell of sour mash, a smell that filled the air of the entire campus day and night for about a month. Apparently the whiskey production was a tradition that had been honored for many years.

All of this was enough to make any lover of God’s Word weep. However, the worst part was the actual Bible classes. In fairness, I only took one Bible class: a survey of roughly the first half of the Old Testament.

Before starting the Bible class, I expected to have a professor who would love exploring the Bible with like-minded, motivated students. I expected classes to commonly last beyond the required times, and for studying and discussion to take place spontaneously among the students, and with the teacher. I expected a life of shared Bible study.

Actually, my Bible class classmates did seem genuinely interested in the Bible. However, I never knew of any meetings outside of class. People would talk as we walked down the short hall outside the classroom; but as soon as we reached the outside, everyone went their individual ways. There was no life of “shared” Bible study for me.

To this day, I am most ambivalent about the professor. I have been told that religion professors often try to destroy their students’ faith, thereby driving away the students whose faith can be destroyed, and leaving only those students whose faith is too strong to be destroyed. In the words of Hebrews 12:26-27, these professors, acting as though they were God, “shake” the students, and retain only those “which cannot be shaken” (this is very different from what God teaches us in 1 Corinthians 8:11-12, and in 2 Timothy 2:22-26).

Apparently this was a practice which my professor fully endorsed. The professor did promote the idea that learning the Bible was important for being able to explain it to others: I am not aware of him making any argument against 2 Timothy 2:15. Nevertheless, he systematically called into question the accuracy of almost everything we studied in the Bible.

From 2 Peter 1:20-21, we know that no prophecy “came by man’s will”; and 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that “God inspired all Scripture”. In fact, everything in the Bible is inspired by God, down to the smallest detail (Matthew 5:18; Luke 16:17). The stories of the Bible are not “cunningly crafted myths” (2 Peter 1:16).

Nevertheless, this professor seemed to show us every doubt that has ever been expressed against God’s Word. What’s more, he seemed to accept the criticisms as correct! In fact, he seemed to be encouraging us to believe that the only truths in the Bible were just some sort of vague “themes” (e.g. God made the world, humanity has a sinful nature, God cares about man, etc.); and to believe that the details of the Bible were probably not true, except in some sort of metaphorical, non-literal way. To me, it sounded as though I was being taught that the Bible was just a collection of “cunningly crafted myths”.

How could I defend belief in the Bible, if it was all myths? How could such a Bible be “beneficial for teaching, for convicting, for correcting, for learning justice” (2 Timothy 3:16)? I believe in telling people the whole truth; and if I told others what I was being taught in that class, what possible reason would they have to accept the Bible, and the Bible’s Jesus?

I needed help to understand. So, I went to the professor, to ask him what his answers were for these questions. I asked him why he still believed in the Bible. His face became angry, and he ended our conversation abruptly.

After this, I gave up. At the end of the school year, I left the school. I’ve never had an opportunity to take a Bible class since that time.

Second Year of College

The next year, I attended a community college. I and my youngest earthly sister were majoring in a two-year x-ray tech degree. I thought it would be good to get that degree, and then use that degree to get a good job to pay for higher level degrees.

The x-ray tech degree had two parts: a year of college classes, and a year of hands-on training. At the end of the year of college classes, I was interviewed for admission into the hands-on training. In the interview, the interviewing panel noticed that I had very good grades, and asked me why I didn’t try to become a medical doctor, instead of just an x-ray tech. They said they thought I was “over-qualified” for their school. When the decision letter came later, my admission was rejected.

The First Collapse

I didn’t know what I was going to do. How was I going to pay to finish college?

During the 13 years of torment that I endured, from kindergarten to high school graduation, I only had two things that really made me feel that I was worth something as a person: my relationship with God, and the academic ability which He had given me. I felt as if all my tormentors would “win” over me if I couldn’t get a good college education, and a good job. I couldn’t stand the thought of my being poor, and those tormentors becoming rich. It seemed so unjust that I should fail, and that my tormentors should succeed, and laugh at me.

I decided to try to work as a “riverboat deckhand” (a worker on a riverboat). Although I would need to give up college for two or three years, I thought that I could save a lot of my pay and then return to college later.

However, for insurance reasons, the boat companies required new workers to have the spinal column vertebrae of their lower backs x-rayed. If the x-rays find a man has a bone problem in his back, the company rejects the man, thereby maintaining lower insurance costs. The x-rays revealed a birth defect in the lowest vertebra of my spine, something which I had never known was there. I was immediately rejected for work.

With no way to go to college at the time, or apparently any time, I collapsed. Nearing 21 years of age, and after at least 16 years of serious hardship, I felt as though all the hope in my life was lost. It had finally all become too much for me to bear. I fell into a deep depression.

I started talking to a psychologist. He suggested that I should take anti-depressant medication. However, because such medicine has different effects on different people, I had to be in a hospital for the first few days to be sure that I would not have a bad reaction. Because I was so poor, I had to admit myself to spend those few days in the state mental hospital.

Thankfully the medicine worked well for me. After a few months, I was better, and I was able to stop taking medicine. I have not required medicine for depression since sometime in the 1990’s.

Loss of My Earthly “father”

In 1995, my earthly “father” died of prostate cancer. This was the same man that, when I was scared that I might have some cancer like prostate cancer, and told him about it, he stopped taking me to doctors. After the day of my juvenile delinquency trial, and before this “father’s” death (about 10 years), I saw the him three times.

The first time was to get some of my things, shortly after going to live with my Mom. The second time was just shortly before his last time in the hospital; it seemed he only wanted to accuse me of being a bad son one more time. The last time I saw him, he was in the hospital; I don’t think he really even knew I was there. I didn’t go to his funeral, and I’ve never seen his grave.

Return to College

Because of some of my difficulties, I was finally able to get some additional assistance to go to college through the state’s vocational rehabilitation program. I worked hard and tried to make the most of this blessing. I majored in mathematics; and in May of 1997, I received a Bachelor of Science degree, cum laude. I had been careful with my money during this time, so I was able to pay for one year of graduate school; and in August of 1998, I received a Master of Arts degree, also in mathematics. My G.P.A. was 3.90 out of 4.00 (all A’s, except for one B).

Also during this time, I was studying the Bible with tremendous intensity. During the period of late 1994-early 1995, God blessed me with extensive understanding of the Bible. I wrote a book of essays based on what God had shown me; but I did not know how to get it published at that time. I will include those things in this website, God willing.

As I was earning my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, it was always my intention to go on to get my Ph.D. degree, and teach math in college. After all the suffering which I endured in high school, I had no desire to ever even see a high school again, much less work in one. So I did not even attempt to get a teaching certificate to allow me to teach in high schools.

In the fall of 1999, I was admitted to graduate study at another university, to work towards a Ph.D. in math. Also, I received a teaching assistantship. The teaching was ok.

However, I discovered that my previous training was not appropriate for my Ph.D. studies. My previous classes were good classes; but they did not cover the proper topics to prepare me for the Ph.D. classes. I survived the semester (barely), and finished teaching the classes of my assistantship. Then, with great sadness, I left the school. That was December of 1999.

My Mom Dies

In January of 2000, my Mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer; in February, she died. When she died, my heart broke.

On top of this, a lot of family stresses that apparently had existed for some time came out when Mom died. Not only did I lose my Mom, but I also ended up losing all of the rest of my family, except for my youngest sister and her family, and one of my brother’s sons (he would abandon me in 2005).

By God’s Grace, I did not fall into depression, as I had in the past. However, life was a struggle. I worked, but the work didn‘t pay much, and I became badly indebted with credit card debt trying to make up the difference.

My youngest earthly sister also struggled. After leaving the Ph.D. program, and my Mom’s death, I had nowhere to live. My youngest sister and her family allowed me to stay with them; but, as commonly happens in families, tensions arose.

I didn’t have any friends that lived near me, so I e-mailed with a close friend of mine, and talked with him about the difficulties of the situation. Things had happened that irritated and angered me; and I told my friend. As we say in the U.S., I just wanted to “vent some steam”.

My sister went on the computer, and read the mails. What came from that was not good.

A Taste of Slavery

In early 2002, I lived in my car for a few days, until I was able to move in with a friend in Missouri. I got a job working as a desk clerk in a motel; and by the end of 2002, I was living in the motel as a sort of in-house assistant. At first, my willingness to work at any time I was needed was enough for the owner, and I was paid for whatever time that I worked.

However, as time went on, that changed. Around April or May of 2003, the motel owner told me that he was no longer going to pay me for all of my hours, and that I would be required to work extra hours without pay. Although I might work 60-70 hours per week, I would only be paid for 40 hours. I still needed to live in the motel so that I was always on-call. My pay was only $5.50 an hour.

The other motel staff showed sympathy to me; and it seemed to make the motel owner grew more and more cold towards me. I felt like a slave. I couldn’t see any future for myself, except working for almost nothing in that motel, and slowly growing old.

The End of Math

However, I was given short breaks each week when I could leave the motel. I went to the local library, and looked on the Internet for another job. I found another university where I could try to get a Ph.D. in math, and teach as a teaching assistant. I didn’t have the greatest hopes of succeeding; but I wanted to try one more time. Besides, I needed out of the terrible situation that I was in.

I got the teaching assistantship, and the teaching was even better for me than my first time as a teacher; but the classes that I had to take for the Ph.D. were even more difficult for me. It was a total failure.

Hopeful Third Time In Kentucky

During this time, I and my youngest earthly sister were able to restore our relationship somewhat, and I returned again to Kentucky. I was finally able to find factory work that paid enough for me to survive. Life was still very hard, but it was somewhat more stable.

In 2005, I was still smoking cigarettes, and drinking alcohol occasionally. By God’s Grace, my desire for such things ended.

Also in 2005, I met a young lady from Japan. She came to the U.S. as an exchange student. She was my first real girlfriend; I was 35. I really loved her; and on Christmas Eve of 2005, she agreed to marry me. At the end of the school year, in May of 2006, she returned to Japan to complete her college degree. I continued to contact her almost every day.

Meanwhile, I found a better paying job, in April, 2007. It was a typical factory job: long hours, filthy work environment, and lots of physical labor. However, I was able to slowly save a little money.

The Second Collapse

By January of 2008, I had finally saved enough money to hire a lawyer, and I filed for bankruptcy. I was never able to find a job that paid enough to pay back the credit card debt that I had accumulated around six to eight years earlier. Because of the large penalties, fees, increased interest, and other charges that were added to the debt, the total had become something truly terrifying.

In August of 2008, I was laid off from my job due to the Great Recession. Thankfully, I was able to receive unemployment insurance (U.I.) payments. It took several months for me to find another job.

In October of 2008, my fiance came to the U.S. from Japan for a week. I was not able to meet with her during the first half of the week, but we did meet in the second half. I was overjoyed to see her, and I tried to do my very best to make her visit nice; but she seemed very distant. It seemed that something was wrong, but I didn’t know what it might be.

In January of 2009, there was a terrible ice storm where I lived. The electricity was cut off for three weeks. It was a terrible time. At the end of January, just as the troubles of the storm began to pass, my fiance told me that she had cheated on me during the first half of her visit in October of 2008. She also told me that she was breaking up with me. Again, I was crushed.

In the house that I had been renting from my youngest earthly sister, the water system failed, and my sister was very slow about fixing the problem. I couldn’t find work, so I had to save U.I. payment money until I had enough to rent another place, and move. I was finally able to move in August of 2009, after living roughly eight months without running water.

About this time, I began my first website, StrawberriesForStrawberryLovers.Com (this link will open in a new window).
I considered building a website about the Bible first; but it seemed as though it might be more difficult to build such a site correctly. So I decided to build a strawberry site first, and gain website-building skills before trying a Biblically-oriented site.

After moving, my youngest sister and her family communicated with me very little. The last time that I saw any of them was in the spring of 2010. They stopped communicating with me entirely in the autumn of 2010. I have tried many times since then to contact them by phone, text message, and e-mail, but there has been no response of any kind. Since the autumn of 2010, I have had no contact with any of my earthly family members.

However, I still have my Heavenly family.

Life Now

I was finally able to begin working again in early 2010, and found a long-term job in the summer of 2010. At the time that I am writing this (November, 2012) I am still working for the same company. Like almost every job I’ve had in my life, the job that I have now doesn’t pay very much. However, I thank God that I am able to survive.

I began BiblicalPOV.Com in March of 2012.

I have not included everything that's happened to me in my life: what I did include is already more than I think most people will want to read. However, I believe this is a very representative sample of my life, and enough to get a reasonably clear idea of what sort of person that I am.

Besides giving those of you who visit this site a bit of insight about me, there are some other things that I hope to produce by providing this information about me. One of those things is a humbling of myself, and a confession of my sins, so that I may be forgiven, and healed.

I hope my willingness to confront the sins of my past will help those who visit this page to also confront their sins.

Another thing that I hope to provide is a testimony of what God has done for me.

Of course, there are several things in my life story that are bad. I include them in my testimony, just as the Apostle Paul included the bad things of his life in his testimony, in 2 Corinthians 11:22-12:12. In Paul’s testimony, we find that he suffered many terrible things in his life; but his life was also filled with the power of God. Also, of Jesus Himself, the Bible says:

The things which I have endured have also matured me.

Finally, I hope whoever reads this page will see that I am trying to be an honest and sincere person. I am neither a pretender, nor a swindler. I do not want to defraud anyone. I only want to love, and to be loved, and to be whatever God wants me to be.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this page. God bless you.

Steve Gilkey