Last updated Tuesday, February 24, 2026.
Early Retirement
As of the start of this year, I officially transitioned from being in a sabbatical season to being retired early. I'm getting a bit more confident telling people, but it's still a bit awkward.
Pro Pickleball
I got sponsored by Selkirk to their Emerging Pro Team in January. 💪🏻
With that came a lot more tournaments. I have one every weekend in February along with one in March (Pennsylvania) and May (New Jersey). I did well to start February, winning three out of the three events I played in along with the most money I've won in any single event (by far).
This past weekend, I played in the first weekend of the inaugural USLPL 35+ Pro League, representing the Chattanooga Iron Paddles. It was a blast and reminded me how much I love the team format.
I went 1-7 on the weekend, but that's good motivation. The good news is none of those losses felt like I was outclassed. All potentially winnable. Will spend time experimenting with PB Vision and AI before the March event to surface actionable insights.
LifeGroup Study
I've also been spending time each week reading Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (both the book and workbook) and distilling it into something my LifeGroup (Bible study) can talk through.
God shifted my mindset/perspective on quite a few things during my sabbatical. In hindsight, a lot of it was getting a healthier perspective on my identity, breaking down false assumptions, and pulling back the layers on the why behind certain actions (which appeared healthy but on deeper reflection masked insecurities).
The themes of the book seem similarly geared toward helping people discover their true selves and avoiding the traps of presenting a false self. So praying the book could lead to some inward reflection and insightful revelations for those in my group.