Where I come from…

I Heart Polk County

I grew up here.

I went to school here.

I got married here.

I’ve ridden the Island in the Sky, and get my milkshakes at Andy’s, and grew up in a divided house (Dad’s a Blue Devil, Mom’s a Bloodhound).  I’ve fished in Mariana and skied in Cannon and ridden my bicycle through the Beverage Castle.  I took swimming lessons at Mack’s Beach and tennis lessons downtown.

All that to say, I love my community.  Winter Haven.  Auburndale.  Inwood.  It’s part of the very fiber of who I am.

Given the choice to live anywhere in the world, this is it for me.

And I think some of that is where my burden comes from.

I want the people of Polk County to connect with God.  I want my people to be able to find Him.  I want to be able to stand in front of them and say, “Yes, the world’s got a lot to offer; but just try Jesus.  Not the Jesus of religion.  But the one that died on a cross so that we could live.”

I want the people I went to high school with, or played basketball against, or that grew up with my sister, to know God.

What’s your burden?

-Travis Thompson