About

I’m Shawn Kirsch

I grew up in southwest North Dakota, about 90 minutes outside of Bismarck. I lived on the farm until 6th grade, a year after dad quit farming. We moved into town late that fall, but I was fortunate enough to still be involved on farms every year. No kid should grow up without the privilege of working on a farm.

New Leipzig was a pretty good place to grow up, and I graduated from Elgin/New Leipzig HS the spring of 2003. I had gone to Basic Training the year before, and now I went to finish AIT. That fall I started college at Mayville State University.

Thanksgiving Eve I got the call informing me I won a free, all expenses paid trip to the beach Iraq. I went over there for a year, did some Trailblazing (drove around looking for roadside bombs), lived life simply (compared to my geeky existence back home), saw some stuff blow up, survived a few dozen ambushes, and played with some really expensive equipment (nothing like a 19 year old behind the wheel of stuff in the $1.5 million neighborhood).

I returned home and hung out for the spring, worked a bit through the summer, and returned to MSU that fall. I spent a year feeling thoroughly unchallenged (I’m sure I’d have learned something eventually, but by the 3rd semester you should tell me something about my majors I don’t already know), so I stopped going and started digging in with my entrepreneurial spirit (ZERO regrets). It has yet to be easy going, but I’ve developed some amazing contacts, been involved with some cool projects, and feel like I’m diving into new web technologies just as we’re about to see some revolutionary stuff.

Now I spend my days at a part time job, a variety of freelance tech work, and lots of volunteering for a multitude of things at Church. I continue to work on my PhD in the School of Hard Knocks, and one day at a time, I learn something new. As long as Twitter is around, I expect that trend to continue.

Through it all I’ve made some good choices, some bad choices, some worse choices, and some terrible choices. Some things I’ve gotten away with, some things I’ve had to face some stiff consequences, and still other things I continue to have to deal with, and likely will for a couple of years yet (it’s a lot easier to spend money than save money). By far though, my best decision came circa 1991.

When I was somewhere around 6-8 years old (it was a long time ago, and I was still little, hard to remember the details), I was attending Day Camp at Grandma’s Church. One night while in bed, I realized I needed Christ, and that week I became a Christian. I haven’t always been the best example as His servant, but I’m trying, one minute at a time, to live a better life for him. Usually I fail miserably, but that’s why we have grace and forgiveness.

Over time I’ve come to realize that modern culture isn’t a very good representation of how Godly men are supposed to live, especially in regards to how we treat women. I’ve taught on this several times in youth group, I’ve written about it a little bit, and I’m trying to take my words and make them actions. Side note for all you guys, this will make the girls around you uncomfortable at times, because you will end up doing things (like going out of your way to encourage the ladies around you) that most guys don’t do. Some girls simply aren’t ready for that, after growing up in a world where physical beauty is a necessity, fathers don’t give them enough attention, and their world view is a bit skewed. Soldier on anyway, they’ll appreciate it someday.

But this I know for sure, without Christ, I would not be where I am today. Through all of the turmoils I have put myself through, God has always been there, keeping me steady, diverting anything that I absolutely can’t handle. I worry (but not very much), but mostly I hope and dream and stand in awe. He is my Rock. My Guiding Light. The One who makes this life worth living, even as the world around us crumbles.

And His retirement plan is second to none.