Five Years In Oregon: AKA My Oregon Trail

The phrase "Time Flies" is so commonly used, but it is one that gains more meaning each and every passing year!  It actually baffles me to think that I have spent half of my adult life in Oregon now.  Probably one of the biggest life lessons I have learned since I turned 18 is this:

Setting firm expectations on your life will most often leave you frustrated or exhausted.  True joy and contentment in life comes through putting faith in Christ and trusting the direction of your life in God's hands.  Let's be honest, if God has 20/20 vision, we are blind!

I thought it would be fun to walk you through life since 18 and add some funny photos in the process.

2003 Freshman Year of College at Cal Poly SLO

First things first, in 2003 it was awesome to grow your hair out as a guy.  When you have curly hair, this means your hair just gets poofy...  At 18/19 years of age I started my degree in Materials Engineering where my goal was to graduate college, get an engineering job in the realm of photography making 60k + to start.

2006 Interstate Divide

A year before graduating college, I continued working on my engineering degree but I knew I gained much more joy in playing music than engineering.  This was the point when I was actually thinking hard about pursuing a career in music!  I prayed that if this wasn't the right direction that God would close the door.

2007 God Closed The Door

It didn't take long for the door to be shut!  Soon after that, my college roommates and I were homeless.  Ok, not really, I just needed a filler photo, so this is from the summer before college ended (I think).

2007 Making Hard Decisions

I was set to graduate in December of 2007 and I really had no clue what I wanted to do or really where I wanted to go.  Leading worship had become a big part of my life and I knew I wanted to continue doing that where ever I went.  A good friend and mentor of mine, Pastor James, challenged me with an idea that rocked my world.

"Instead of getting a job and finding a church to serve in, why don't you find a church to serve in and allow God to provide the job."   ~Pastor James

This lead to the crazy idea of helping start a little church in Tigard, Oregon to be called Colossae.

2008 Moving To Oregon

I moved to Oregon with no promise of a job, an engineering degree in a manilla envelope, helping lead worship for a tiny house church with no income and a little bit of savings.  In my mind, I would start doing the worship and that I would immediately find an engineering job.  Not the case...

2008 The Economy Tanks

What a great graduation gift.  "Congratulations on graduating, the economy is terrible, if you get an engineering job you will probably be laid off... Enjoy!"  After a few months of no work, it was time to pay my bills.  With no serving experience I found a new California Pizza Kitchen that was opening up about 40 minutes from where I lived.  I was hired and started serving tables in a job I hoped to keep for 4 months tops as an interim job until the engineering job came through.  It didn't....

2009 Started Dating Kristen

Something unexpected happened and a good friend of mine from college, Kristen Giesenschlag, decided to move to Portland and be a part of Colossae church.  We went from being friends to being engaged in about 8 months.

2010 Married

When I left California, I left everyone I knew behind.  I was blessed by a plan that could have only been God.  We got married in May of 2010 in San Diego with our family and friends, then came back to Portland to start our life together. 

2010 Starting A Business

Just a month after being married and after working still at the restaurant going into my third year, Kristen challenged me to pursue what I loved, which is photography.  June 2010 I started Greg Helton Photography LLC.

2011 Became My Own Boss

September of 2011 I officially quite working at the restaurant and took a leap of faith in focusing on my business.  This has been a big challenge and been both difficult and great.

2013 Five Years In

Here we are, five years later.  So much has changed in my life!  My career path, my marital status, even who I am.  If you had sat me down in 2003 and had me write out a description of my life in 2013, it would have been no where close to what it is today, but I love it!

The real question is, what do the next 5 years hold in store?  Will I still be in Oregon?  Will I still be a business owner?  Life is crazy and ever changing.  I am excited to see what happens next!