“Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord and not unto man…” Colossians 3:23
Today I find myself once again in a place where I never thought I would be and I couldn’t be happier or more excited. This seems to be a reoccurring theme throughout my life. I have taken a lot of paths and am proud of every one of them, because they are all things that I have had to work hard for to achieve. This work ethic was instilled in me at a very early age by my dad. He taught me how to work towards achievement and to not accept defeat as failure, but as a learning experience.
Growing up my life was about 2 things. One was faith, and the second was basketball. Both of these which my parents helped me develop. I accepted the Lord as my Savior as a young boy and have loved and followed His path ever since. This isn’t saying that it’s not a daily struggle to keep Him first, but its what I strive to do. Basketball was everything to me as well. I started playing when I was 3 and knew that it was what I wanted to do. I worked my butt off and was blessed by my high school coach Todd Duncan and learned how to better myself, work hard, and set goals for myself. This is how I came to be an achiever.
In high school I made myself 2 goals. The first was to win a state championship, and the second was to earn a scholarship to play basketball in college. Both of which I accomplished because I wrote them down, looked at them every day, and focused my every waking hour on accomplishing them. When I got to college I had the wonderful opportunity to share a national championship win with my teammates. I also was able to have the chance to travel to Belgium with Sport Quest Ministries to not only challenge ourselves by playing some competitive European basketball teams, but also we had the chance to spread the gospel. Not only was this one of the most rewarding things I have done, but also something that I will never forget. This was, for the time being, the end of my basketball career.
Afterwards I moved to San Angelo and finished school to earn a degree in business administration. This is also when I started into my 3rd passion in life, music. My brother Justin and I went and bought some instruments and started jamming for fun. Little did I know that the Lord had big plans for my life in music?! Soon, I was blessed with the opportunity to join the band “Ember”, move to Austin, and pursue a profession in music. As a group we accomplished great things. One opportunity was we had the chance to travel overseas and do 2 tours playing for the troops, and one of the tours was with the well known band “Hinder”. We soon were noticed and signed a record deal with a Christian label and recorded our national debut album. Our first single “The Deep End” topped the charts in secondary markets by going to #1 for 12 weeks strait! Once again, I found that the Lord was using a passion of mine to spread a positive message.
Soon after the band broke up and I moved on, but not before, by Gods great plan, I met the most wonderful woman I have ever known, and she is now my wife. Together, Brittania and I started at Crossfit Round Rock in June of 2011 to find something that not only kept us active, but also got us looking good for our wedding. Our very first Crossfit workout was of course challenging (I believe it was 100 burpees and 100 sit-ups…ah!!!), but I knew that this was something that was going to play a big part in my life. I now find myself completely addicted to it for many reasons. Those reasons include the fact that it’s a daily challenge to get better, an overwhelmingly positive environment, and it also carries all of the characteristics of being a team and a family, which is, obviously something I know and love. I now am just 6 weeks in to receiving my Crossfit Level 1 Certification, and am being mentored to become a new addition to the already stellar coaching staff at Crossfit Round Rock (CFRR). I still have much to learn, but am confident that through my values, work ethic, and the team surrounding and supporting me(A-TEAM!!!) success is their for the taking. I am going to work towards becoming a great coach worthy of leading people to help change their lives at CFRR. I am so excited that the Lord has placed me where I am and can’t wait to see what the future holds for me as a coach!
I want to thank you all for reading and for all of your undying support and prayers (mom, dad, Lindsey, Justin)…stay tuned for many great things that are sure to come!
Jared Duyck
