My Story | James T Savannah

" I share my story to help uplift, equip, and inspire others...."

- James Savannah

Life always seems to go exactly how you plan it to go. At least that’s what I thought as a High School sophomore. That was my first year starting varsity football. Up to that point the sport came easy to me. I knew I was DESTINED to make it to the NFL! I just knew I was going to be my version of successful with all the NOTORIETY. Everything I saw on the ESPN and MTV stories was going to be me. “Don’t worry mom, when I make it big time you won’t have to worry about anything” is what I would tell her.

But, as we all know life DOES NOT go as we plan. For me life began the moment I decided to walk away from a full Athletic Scholarship and the sport I love and built my whole IDENTITY around. Who was I with out football? In 2006 I decided to make a change and move away from my home in Georgia to a place I vowed to never live to be with my high school sweetheart. Indiana here I come. Eager to build a life of being the husband and father that I didn't see in my own dad, a new James Savannah was born. Life was good. Decent Job, amazing children, young marriage, and to top it of was a volunteer Youth Minister with a local Church. I had become your regular, average family man. That all came crashing to a halt in 2011. The passing of my mother in law caused turbulent times leading to my wife and I deciding to separate and ultimately get a DIVORCE. She and my three kids moved out of state, out of my presence, and what felt like out of my life. I was devastated. I had reached my low point. The one thing I thought I was doing right in my life went down the tubes. Being in rock bottom led to me quitting church and living a reckless lifestyle of constant drinking, being hooked on pain killers, and bouts of depression.

My life was a mess. I had no DIRECTION and no PURPOSE. What had I become? Who was I? The promise and potential I thought I once had was surely all gone. I for sure FAILED and let everyone down. But LOVE sure does find its way to you no matter where you are in life. I remember so vividly a student from the Youth Ministry I taught sent me a message. They stated how IMPORTANT I was and how much I was missed. What? I thought I didn't matter to anyone. I thought my life had no impact. I knew at that moment I had to make a change. I had to make my decision to get up!

2013 was an important year. It was time to get rolling! I had to come to a realization that even though my life did not look the way I planned, my life was a life of SIGNIFICANCE. Piecing my life back together took TIME, EFFORT, and a NEW MINDSET. 2013 was especially Important because that was the year my children came back to live with me full time. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be a single father! For their sake I really had to find who I was, and fulfill the potential I thought I lost. I had to lay down all pride that I had inside of me to learn how to be the father my kids need me to be.

Once I began living life ON PURPOSE and WITH PURPOSE, things just seemed to start falling into place. My children began to EXCEL in school, and not live with the fear of trying new things. I also began a movement, #PROUDDADS, to highlight all the great dads that continue to LEAD and INSPIRE in the lives of their families. In 2016 I married my amazing wife Sierra, who continues to push and uplift me to amazing heights. And 2018 brought a new edition to the family, ISRAEL who is a testimony in and of herself.

My MISSION is now to TEACH and COACH the tools I have learned along the journey we call life! It is abundantly clear our purpose in life is to continue to GET UP when we are down, make YOUR move when you feel stuck, and let YOUR STORY speak when you find the success that will never leave your life!