At the time of writing this article, it is a Sunday, and my mind is thinking ahead to the coming week of teaching in my new position, and I’m so grateful to God for the many times he has changed my course in His perfect will. I have recently begun as the Director of Instrumental Ensembles and Assistant Professor of Music at Clearwater Christian College, and it has been an incredible journey to where I am today.

I literally grew up at Trinity. My parents, Mike & Karen Belk, still minister in Trinity Christian Academy, which I attended from K-4 through 12th grade. After high school graduation, I knew I wanted to pursue a college degree in music, so God led me to stay and get that degree at Trinity Baptist College. After finishing my double major in Music and Secondary Education, I taught for two years at a private school in the area, but I was teaching 7th-12th grade mathematics. Even though I loved those students and I loved what I was doing, I knew that wasn’t where God wanted me to remain, so I began the process of applying to graduate schools.

My application process to the University of South Florida hit a big snag, so I asked those around me to pray that I would be able to resolve it. I took a day off of teaching to drive down to Tampa to appeal the declination of my application. In that one day, I had to convince an admissions advisor, the director of the School of Music, and the man who would become my major professor — none of whom I had ever previously met — to sign an exception waiver for my acceptance. God answered those prayers, and I began working on my Master of Music degree in the fall of the 2010 semester. During that time, I joined the church of Pastor Mike Grover, former TBC Dean of Students. God had been planning my acceptance to USF all along, knowing that I would be able to immediately connect to a wonderful church, where I eventually became the regular pianist.

After finishing my degree with a concentration in conducting in December 2011, I found it difficult to find a job in the middle of the school year, so I put my Master’s degree to good use and worked for minimum wage at Target for 3 months while I waited for God to open the door to a new career. He did come through and allowed me to gain a bit of experience in the public high school world as the Interim Choir Director at the local fine arts magnet high school for the last 9 weeks of the 2011-2012 school year.

However, God’s blessings didn’t stop there. The same day that I was offered the job at the high school, the USF School of Music offered me a job for the following school year as the Assistant Director of Athletic Bands. Having been a member of USF’s Herd of Thunder Marching Band while working on my Master’s, I knew the band program and the people in it quite well already, and the transition to a staff position was very smooth. My time on staff with the USF Band Department was an incredible experience for me. God blessed me with opportunities to travel with the bands to London and New York City, conduct the marching band in the national anthem at a Division I football game, and conduct the indoor bands in many concerts at USF. I attribute all of these wonderful things to the gracious guiding hand of God!


This position gave me college teaching experience and helped me develop higher educational skills and perspectives in a relatively comfortable and familiar environment. It also gave me connections that I would be able to take advantage of in the professional world. These skills and connections would be very useful after my one-year appointment at USF ended. After more waiting and praying, I was hired at Clearwater Christian College as director of the College Orchestra and Brass Ensemble and professor of several music courses. Because of God’s continued leading, I am now able to pass on the lessons I have learned both at TBC and at USF to my new students, and I can mix the critical lessons of God’s wonder in music with the skills and techniques of professional musicians. I am thoroughly enjoying my new role at Clearwater, and I know God is blessing the ministry of this college. Lord willing, I plan at some point to pursue a doctorate in music, but until such time as God nudges me out of my current ministry, I’ll just continue to thrive where I am.

The biggest lesson God has taught me in my years since graduation from TBC is that His leading may look like it’s going in a very strange direction, but it’s always the right direction. From high school math teacher to college band director, God has consistently prepared my way, and He has never failed to provide me in advance with the necessary skills to accomplish the tasks He sets before me. If I trust Him and follow Him, I’ll always end up right where He wants me to be, and I’ll be able to do some amazing things only because of Him.