Josh Turner

My given name is Joshua David Turner. I was born in Detroit, Michigan in the early 80s to a father who was laid off from the assembly line of Chrysler and a mother who was working as a maid at the Henry Ford Mansion.

My parents were faithful to God, and God strengthened us, and we prospered in the face of collapse. I hated high school. I was fat, didn’t like to party, didn’t like sports, and loved the band Kiss. I still do love the band Kiss. To impress a girl, I learned how to play the song Wish You Were Here by the band Pink Floyd. It worked, but more importantly, I fell in love. Not with her. With the guitar.

At the age of 19, I started playing blues with a 17-year-old church friend of mine. When we got on stage for the first time I was so nervous that I forgot how to use my hands. We would end up forming a blues/rock band and playing four nights a week for the next five years.

During that time, when I was 21 years old, my dad ended up dying in his sleep on a Monday. On Thursday of that same week my sister died unexpectedly. It was a dark time for me, to say the least. But God is just, true, and good. He strengthened me, blessed me, and called me out of my homeland and into a land I had never known. At the age of 23, I left Detroit. I packed all my stuff into a Jeep and drove across the country until I ended up in Washington state. I still live in Washington, but hopefully not for too much longer.

My story does not matter all that much. The story of what Jesus has done, is doing, and is going to do is the only story that matters. He pulled me up, out of drug addiction and pain, and placed me in the high hand of His flock. It is there that I rest.

Ten years ago, I began walking dogs because I was homeless and needed anything that would bring in some money. The dogs ended up being angels that I entertained unawares. They taught me patience. They taught me about controlling my emotions. They showed me how fragile I really was. With God, they saved my life. Today I run a pack of 60 dogs a day at a daycare in town along with multiple levels of training courses. My wife, Kris, and I live in Washington State with our two dogs Monster and Sam.