About Me (Caleb Jenkins)

In a college Leadership Class I recently took, I was given an assignment to write out a Personal Leadership Plan. 

There are 6 parts to this Personal Leadership Plan. I'm not sure yet if I will post all of them here or not.

1. Knowing Myself
2. Knowing my Past
3. Vision & Mission
4. SMART Goals
5. Mentors
6. Skills I Need

This assignment was: Knowing My Past:

• Life experiences that have shaped me and continue to shape me.
• Understanding of the shaping influence of my life experiences.
• Relation of these life experiences to my current direction in life.

Knowing my Past:

I was born on June 12, 1994 at the home of my parents in Ceres, CA. I was 8lbs, 12oz when I was born. I started crawling at 18 months, and started walking at 2 years of age. I was starting to know how to read right before my 4^th birthday. I started preschool that year which was 1998-1999. Right off the bat my favorite subjects were math, logic, bible, & spelling. As much as I liked Math, I hated Science with the same passion (to this day, I still really don’t like Science). I had a deep love for reading books from a very early age. I started drinking coffee about the same time (5-6 age range). To this day you can still usually see me by my coffee mug. I have read hundreds if not thousands of books and many of those books, I have read over and over and over again. For example, I have read all of the Christian Heroes: Then & Now Series at least 3-5 times each as well as the Heroes of History Series at least 2-3 times each. I also developed an early attraction to technology and computers. I was fascinated by computers, which led me to learn more about their operations (I never really have been interested in the service & repair side of things though). By age 7 or 8, I was teaching my parents and older siblings how do to misc. things on the computer. I loved to sharpen my skills at typing on Mavis Beacon (I spent countless amount of hours practicing, and practicing and practicing, over and over and over again). In 2004, our family moved from on the edge of the city where my parents rented a house to a 10 acre almond farm in the country 3 miles outside of town. That was the year that I turned 10, as well as the year that my Grandpa Jenkins & Great Grandma Wagoner died (they lived in Indiana). I remember that being a sobering event in my life. In the years of 2005-2006, I spent a lot of time outside in our orchards, but I forever loved to spend whatever spare time I had still reading books & messing around on the computer. In May of 2008, I graduated from 8^th Grade. My speech was on Boldness & Courage (two things that were in the life of Caleb in the Bible that I want to be modeled in my life). Then in June of 2008, my life took a huge turn. One evening a few nights after my birthday, I could not sleep. My stomach hurt terrible bad. I tried to relieve the pain but nothing worked. When I would stand up to walk I would about collapse from the pain. I walked with my waste up parallel to the floor because of the horrible amounts of pain. Finally a few days later my parents took me to the hospital. In the emergency room they did a CT scan on me (before they did this, they made me drink some nasty flavored juice that was supposed to taste like Orange Juice, but to me it was a terrible substitute for the real thing). The emergency room doctor came and told us that the CT Scan came back with nothing. He said that it could either be that I had a bad case of the flu, or else I could be developing children’s kidney stone problems. My father did not like the answer, which the doctors sensed, so they called the general surgeon and he came and looked at me. He wanted to admit me to the hospital. After admitting me to the hospital he came and did a few tests on me, and told my parents that he thought I had appendicitis and wanted to do surgery on me. So the next day they did surgery on me, and to their surprise realized that my appendix had actually ruptured, Now this wasn’t just any ordinary rupture either. It had actually ruptured back in May of 2008, and had healed over and then re-burst in June. There was infection spread throughout my stomach area from the rupture. I spent about 14 or 15 days in the hospital because of this problem. I believe that the reason I spent this time there was a wake up call from the Lord about my personal salvation to which I did not respond to at that time being. Then in September of 2008, I prayed a prayer and “gave my life to the Lord”. I was baptized on October 5, 2008. I went down the path thinking that I was saved and tried on my own strength to be a true Christian. That fall I started working for my father doing tax & accounting work which I loved doing (It allowed me to focus on my strengths in Math & Logic while allowing me to work with $$ doing Financial Accounting & Bookkeeping which was my absolute joy – and still is). That next tax season (January-April 2009) I worked 4 days a week at the front desk as a receptionist. Then I started a small roadside fruit business for three weeks. This was a really good experience that allowed me to make some money and have some experience with entrepreneurship. I continued working for Daddy full-time from this point on doing mainly Accounting work, but also Personal & Corporate Tax Work on the side. Then in November of 2009, tragedy struck home. I had a four-wheeler wreck. I was riding my four-wheeler beside my brother on his four-wheeler in our orchard when I guess I bumped into his back tire (I don’t remember doing this). That threw me off my four-wheeler and into one of our almond trees. Miraculously, I was wearing a helmet at the time being (normally I don’t wear a helmet when just riding in our orchard). I was knocked out, and so my father who was riding with us, came up and instantly decided that I needed help. He called 911 and they sent out an ambulance and fire truck. The EMT’s decided that it might be too dangerous to transport me to the hospital in the ambulance so they called for a helicopter. After they medi-flighted me into the hospital I was in ICU for 3 days, then in the pediatric ward for another 7 days. I had broken my scapula in two spots, a bad break to my collar bone, and nine of the spinas on my vertebrae. When I was released from the hospital I had to wear a sling around for 6 weeks. That was fun to work at the office in (not)!! So after healing from that accident, I went through the tax season in 2010 and worked long hours (pushing 70 hours per week). During the summer I examined my future, and decided that it would be best to go down the route of becoming a CPA which would require a Bachelor’s degree to do. At the height of tax season in 2011, I worked 70-80 hour weeks. I loved every bit of this tax season with its challenges to further exceed and excel. Then in August of 2011 I went on a Journey to the Heart up in the Northwoods of Michigan. This was a life transforming event. I believe I really came to know Christ as my personal Lord & Savior on this trip. I was able to find freedom from sins that I was hiding in my life through confessing them & being open about them to my parents, and then through brokenness towards God because of the hurt that it had caused him. When I came home from that trip I started working on the Leadership course on Management & Communication through CollegePlus. I thoroughly enjoyed this class as it was challenging and heart searching to find answers in my life. Then this year in 2012 I survived tax season after working some 80 hour weeks. I graduated this spring from High School. My speech was on “A Biblical Worldview on Finances & Stewardship”. During this summer I took many trips to various places that challenged me to live for Christ. One of these was to a Missions Conference in OH. The Lord began to open my eyes through this event to his heart for the Nations. Then in August of this year I went on a trip to PA for a conference called “Kingdom Fellowship Weekend”. There the Lord began to open my eyes to the kingdom of God and what it is, and how it applies to my everyday life. I then traveled to OH and helped out a young lady going through demonic attacks. Through this experience the Lord began to open my eyes to the Spiritual Warfare that is happening all around us every day. Then I continued my trip to NYC where a friends & I did some repair work for Mennonites and then in the afternoons/evenings went out into the subways and sang and passed out gospel tracts and witnessed to Individuals about the Lord Jesus Christ. Through this experience the Lord began to open my eyes to his heart for every lost individual around us every day.

Now – how does all of this relate to where I am currently at and headed in life? Well going back, let’s look at a few things. I have had a interest in Math & Logic from an early age. I have always loved to read. I have always longed to be able to work with numbers. I enjoy working with computers and new technology. But more importantly, I have a desire for a close walk with Christ through Prayer & Scripture reading, & Evangelism. One of my Joys in life is sharing the Gospel with the lost and Biblical Principles of Finance & Stewardship with those that profess to know Christ. 

So where does all of this lead me in life? Well, my vision is to equip believers throughout the world to walk a more Christ-centered life in the specific area of Biblical principles of finance and stewardship. My role in this vision is to serve and influence those that are struggling in business, to encourage the poor, and provide counsel to those who have legitimate needs. My ultimate desire is that each Christian would be equipped to live their lives in the way of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in all areas of life, and specifically in the area of stewardship & finances.

You may ask, "How and where is this mission & vision carried out?" The answer to this question is, "I'm not sure." In the past year or so, my vision has changed from an American Christianity perspective on finances to a more Biblical Christianity view of finances. My sights are now on the whole world instead of just America. My sights are now set to see lost people saved, and Christians edified and challenged to grow in their walk with Christ. I want to see a group of believers from every tribe around the world who are passionately on fire for the Lord and who live the radical life of Christianity as was displayed by those in the early church who gave sacrificially of the time, money, possessions, and even to the point of death for the spread of the Gospel to all people groups around the world.

I hope that reading this college essay paper has helped you to understand more of who I am and who God has made me to be.