Josh and Meggie Simmons

Role and number of years on staff:
Campus Staff at Furman, 4th year

Hometown:
I was born in Knoxville, TN, but moved to Athens, TN before I started 3rd grade. I matured into my later years and grew in stature in Athens thanks to steady diet of Mayfield Milk and ice cream from Mayfield Dairy in Athens.

Graduated from:
Wofford College ‘05 with a degree in Psychology

My Story:
I am the oldest of 4 kids. Our family was regular church attendees, usually where my mom was playing the piano. Being in church for many years, though, Christianity to me was nothing but a bunch of rules, which caused me to view it as nothing but moralism. Christianity was religion and religion kills. I was a “good kid”, morally upstanding, until I went to high school. I went to a boarding school in Tennessee for my sophomore – senior years. People’s approval and recognition was a huge idol in my life. I fell down and worshipped at this idol, forsaking much morality and “religious code” I held prior. I threw myself head-first into the party scene desiring the friendship of the people I partied with and I got it. I lived for school, basketball, girls, and people’s approval during high school. My freshman year of college, all of the things that I had been trying to find life and purpose, fulfillment, and joy in left me dried up more. I woke up hung-over from a party the night before tired of everything I was living for. I began to ask many questions, but it wasn’t until my sophomore year that I met our now director, G’Joe Joseph. I met him in a line for ice cream and after about 30 minutes of speaking with him I had a lunch that week lined up with him and had introduced him to 2 other of my fraternity brothers. G’Joe shared the Gospel with me for the first time that week at lunch and what ensued was 4-5 months of hanging out with him in my dorm room, going over to his house for dinner, and investigating Jesus and Christianity with him. I had many questions and he was patient and loved me through all of them, never shying away from the truth of what God has given us in His Word, the Bible. I went to the New Year’s Conference that year and it was there that God saved me. I knew that I was a sinner, who was rebelling against God at every turn I could make and that there was absolutely nothing that I could bring Him to pay for my sin against Him. And that there was nothing I was expected to do b/c Christ had done it all for me. So it was there at the conference that I became a new creation with Jesus becoming King of my life. And so for the past 6 and a half years, I have been pursuing Jesus wanting to serve Him b/c I have been freed to do so and to delight in the Lord with all my being. And as of September 5th, 2009, I will be married to an incredible gift of the Lord to me, Meggie. She was a student at Furman when I came on staff there three years ago. We started dating in the fall of ’08, got engaged on March 17th, 2009, and are oh so close to being married! She is such a picture of God’s incredible grace and mercy to someone, namely me, who has done nothing at all to merit such a gift.

My hobbies:
I have become somewhat of geek, so I honestly love just sitting at a coffee shop and reading for a long time. I love finding new music/bands to listen to. Spending time with people. Long-boarding until it got stolen. I would like to start swimming for exercise. Buying more books than I could possibly read in a decade.

My favorites:
Being with my soon-to-be-wife as well as, my mom’s enchiladas, concerts, good books/theology, good coffee, good music, good art, good cigars, and good film all to the glory of God. I know that “good” is an extremely relative and subjective term, so if you would like to know how I define “good” just ask.

What you probably didn’t know about me:
3 out of 4 children in my family were married this year in 2009, within 5 ½ months of each other. I was the last of the three on September 5th.

Favorite links:
theresurgence.com, marshillchurch.org, desiringgod.org, monergism.com, thegospelcoalition.org, pitchfork.com, noisetrade.com