I’ve never known anyone who loves me the way Jesus does.
Posted on Thursday, September 10, 2015 by
Meet Kyle Lindgren, our newest staff member with Parent Life. Kyle, and his wife Chelsea, have volunteered with Parent Life for the past four years. They themselves teen parents, they knew this was their ministry when they heard about it at Zion Church. Learning that there wasn’t really ministry to the guys and knowing there’s a man for every baby, Kyle thought this could be his offering to be there for the guys and encourage them to be accountable. Kyle is now part-time staff with Parent Life and he will help at the detention center with JJM.
Kyle grew up around Christianity, but rebelled against it. In high school, his struggles evolved to drugs, gang life, drinking, and crime. Kyle was eventually kicked out of high school. Kyle and Chelsea dated off and on during this time. They had their son, Trey, and then were split up for almost two years, sharing custody of Trey. One weekend, Kyle saw Chelsea out with her new boyfriend and he blew up. His friends got him home and as Kyle sat shaking with anger, he heard the thought, “Aren’t you sick of this?” He was. He hated his life. He cried like a baby, drunk sitting on his couch, and told God, “If you’re real like you claim to be, you can fix what I’ve done and how I’ve messed up my life.” Kyle passed out and woke up in the morning. Nothing had changed but absolutely everything was different. God transformed Kyle.
The first thing God did was take away Kyle’s anger. Kyle has never shook with anger since that night. God also gave Kyle an overwhelming desire to read the Bible. He started reading the New Testament and a light turned on in his mind. He finally understood why Jesus was so important. “Nobody had any reason to forgive me ever. I understood why Jesus was such a great blessing and it just wrecked me. I’ve never known anyone who loves me the way Jesus does,” said Kyle. God also reunited Kyle and Chelsea. They were married in September of 2010 and now have three children together. Trey is eight years old; James is four; Callie is 18 months.
With first-hand experience of the ways Christ can conquer sin, Kyle offers this vision and hope to all the young dads at Parent Life. He can connect with them on the common ground of shared experiences from his teen years. Each week, Kyle and Chelsea are an example of the healing and beauty that Christ can bring to relationships with significant others and with babies.