ABOUT JACK LABOLLE
A CLOSER LOOK AT MY STORY FOLLOWING JESUS
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”
Proverbs 14:12
BEFORE JESUS
I didn’t grow up going to church, and faith or Jesus were not parts of my life at all.
God wasn’t someone I thought about, cared about, or paid much attention to as I grew up — By that way of living, I was agnostic; Living as if God simply did or didn't exist, I didn't care.
As I got older, my life was driven by a “work hard, play hard” mentality. FULLY centered on myself and the life I wanted to build.
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When I started college, the freedom and fun that came with doing life entirely on my own terms only reinforced a life centered on me and what I wanted — and I stepped fully into that reality.
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Throughout college, I was confident, driven, and focused on my success — MY goals, MY story, and MY future. Whether things were going well or I was getting into trouble, everything still revolved around me.
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Internally and externally life was great and felt perfectly fine, but underneath I didn’t realize what I truly needed.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works,
so that no one may boast.”
Ephesians 2:8–9
MEETING JESUS
God used an unexpected conversation to change my life.
My sophomore year of college, I met a girl in the dining hall — what started as casual conversations, turned into honest debates about God, truth, and faith — conversations I never had, OR expected to have.
Although at the time, I was just trying to have fun, and chase after a girl, God had other plans.
And for the first time, I SERIOUSLY wrestled with what I ACTUALLY believed.
After about a week of conversations and debates, she invited me to her church.
That Sunday, I heard the Gospel for the first time, and the Holy Spirit made something unmistakably clear: I was a sinner, and needed Jesus for salvation.
And On October 1, 2023, I asked Jesus to forgive me of my sins; Trusting not in a “religion”, or a “system”, or by me “being better” through self-improvement, but by trusting in Him and what He did.
I trusted that Jesus lived a perfect life, the life I could AND can never live, and died in MY place for MY sin, and that he rose from the dead, to give ME not only Salvation, but a COMPLETELY new life, a new start.
This was all HIS work, NOT mine, and honestly, IMMEDIATELY, I began to notice REAL change through ALL areas of my life;
Conviction over my sin and a hunger to deepen my relationship with Jesus, something I had never experienced before.
I truly didn’t know what I was doing lol . . . all I did was I started reading the Bible, Praying, and surrounding myself with people who GENUINELY loved Jesus.
And that’s only the beginning of my story following Jesus.
“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
Luke 5:10–11
FOLLOWING JESUS
My calling and desire for pastoral ministry didn’t begin with a dramatic moment — it started quietly as I faithfully followed Jesus.
While I was deep in nursing school, serving in MULTIPLE different ministries, and sharing my faith naturally with people, something in me began to stir.
I found myself loving helping people follow Jesus, loving explaining Scripture, loving answering hard questions, and loving to care for people spiritually, not just physically.
What started as a small spark in my heart, to teach and speak God's Word to others, slowly grew into something deeper and humbler.
Over time, God used other people around me to affirm gifts in me that I truly wasn’t seeking or thinking about.
Although all of this was happening internally AND externally, still, I resisted it.
I had worked SO hard to get into nursing, and I kept telling God and others “no,” asking Him to take the desire of my heart away.
But the desire only burned stronger, while my desire for nursing dimmed.
When God opened an undeniable door for me to change direction, I knew He was calling me to surrender the plans I BUILT for myself and trust Him FULLY.
Saying yes changed EVERYTHING — and it set the DIRECTION for what followed.
