FROM THE TOP
LELAND ACKER chreporter@mediactr.com
So, how are the new year's resolutions coming? Mine are coming along just fine. I have spent more time with my kids, I have played outside more and my wife and I are still planning our weekend get-a-way. Furthermore, the diet my wife put us on back in February is going great. I am down from 275 lbs in February, to 241 lbs last week.

Today is a day of reflection for me, as I turn 29 years old today. By the age of 30, I had hoped to be living the dream. I hoped for fame, fortune, a seat in Congress, a syndicated radio show and a successful business.

In fact, when I was in junior high, I had to take an "interest-inventory" test and an aptitude test. These tests measured my interest levels in various professions and my natural ability to excel in those fields. The counselor examined those results with me and told me I had the aptitude to do whatever I wanted to in life. After reviewing my interest inventory, he said, "Now, we'll have to figure out what that is."

Figuring out what I wanted to do in life has been a struggle. I once interviewed for a position at KOYN-FM in Paris. (I wanted that position because that station has produced many majormarket radio personalities.)

Upon reviewing my resume which featured my experience in advertising sales, programming, on-air work, traffic and billing, and even management, the general manager told me, "Son, you have to figure out what you want to do!" (I didn't get the job, but at least Robert Gonzalez hired me at KWRW 97.7 FM.)

So what do I really want to do? When I was a child growing up at Craft Baptist Church, I was the song leader on youth Sunday and the president of the Galileans (a youth club for boys in the Baptist Missionary Association). Today, I pastor Denson Springs Missionary Baptist Church in Slocum.

When I was a child, I played radio by recording my own shows on a cassette tape. Today, I host Saturday morning Talk Time and cover Rusk Eagle sports.

I also made my own newspapers on notebook paper. Today, I work at the Cherokeean Herald. I even get to write my own column.

Eight years ago, I married a Southern Californian beauty, and now have a wonderful family

At the age of 29, with one year to spare, I am living the dream. I have the wife, career and ministry I have always wanted.

God has truly been good to me and I need to remember that before I whine about how hard things are.