When Purpose Walks Into the Room

I thought I was just grabbing coffee — but God had other plans.

When I sat down with Scott Chevalier, the man behind the Powerhouse Youth Project, I expected a good conversation. What I didn’t expect was conviction. In the span of an hour, he reminded me of everything that matters most — faith, calling, and what it really means to make a difference right where you are.

Scott leads a local organization dedicated to helping students who might otherwise fall through the cracks. The way he spoke about those kids — his kids — stopped me in my tracks. You could hear it in his voice: this wasn’t a job to him; it was his life’s mission.

He told me stories of redemption, including one about a young girl who arrived pregnant and hopeless but graduated months later holding her baby in one arm and her diploma in the other. When he showed me that photo, something inside me shifted.

I couldn’t help but think, If this program had existed when I was in school, I would’ve been one of his students.

That thought stayed with me long after the coffee went cold.

Sometimes purpose doesn’t come as a plan.

It walks into the room and reminds you why you’re here.

The Power of One Conversation

There’s a certain kind of energy you feel when someone is walking in their purpose — and Scott carries that with him.

Over coffee, I realized his work isn’t just about mentoring teenagers. It’s about rebuilding belief — one student, one conversation, one act of faith at a time. He doesn’t lecture these kids; he listens to them. He doesn’t tell them who they should be; he reminds them who they already are.

At one point, he glanced down at his phone and said, “Sorry, just checking in case one of my students needs me.” He wasn’t being distracted. He was being available. That kind of presence is rare — and it’s powerful.

The more he talked, the more I could see that the Powerhouse Youth Project isn’t built on grand strategies or flashy slogans. It’s built on showing up. It’s built on trust. It’s built on the quiet, consistent belief that every kid matters — especially the ones the world tends to overlook.

That conversation left me asking myself hard questions: Where am I showing up like that? Who am I making time for when no one’s watching?

It reminded me that sometimes, the most impactful ministry isn’t what you start — it’s who you serve.

If you’ve never heard of Powerhouse Youth Project, take a few minutes to read this recent feature in Lake & Sumter Style Magazine. It paints a powerful picture of what’s happening at Leesburg High — how one program is reshaping mindsets and building hope for a generation that needs it most.

When Faith Meets Action

Just a few days before meeting Scott, my pastor preached a message that’s been echoing in my mind ever since. He said something like this: “Our goal as believers isn’t to fight evil — it’s to do good. Evil fades when light shows up.”

That truth hit differently after our conversation. Because sitting across from Scott, watching the way he poured into those kids, I realized — this is what faith in action looks like. It’s not about arguing theology or waiting for the perfect opportunity. It’s about showing up where the world is hurting and doing something good.

For most of my early life, my mission was to fight evil in a very literal way. Six deployments, countless nights overseas — I spent over a decade focused on defending and protecting. And while I’m grateful for that chapter of my life, it taught me something that only makes sense now: fighting evil might stop destruction, but it doesn’t build hope.

What Scott’s doing at Powerhouse Youth Project builds hope. It creates light in dark places. It reminds me that in this season of my life, God’s calling me to a different kind of battle — one fought with compassion, consistency, and service.

Romans 12:21 says it plainly:

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

That’s what I saw in Scott — not a man running from darkness, but a man running toward light.

And maybe that’s what real faith looks like: not standing against the world, but serving your community until it starts to change.

Building Hope, One Student at a Time

The thing that struck me most about the Powerhouse Youth Project is that it doesn’t feel like a program — it feels like a purpose.

Scott isn’t just teaching lessons; he’s building futures. He’s creating an environment where students who might have been written off by the system finally feel seen, supported, and believed in. That belief alone can change everything.

Just before we wrapped up our coffee, Scott told me he was heading out to buy futons for his new classroom — a space designed to give students a safe, welcoming place to learn, talk, and grow. I offered to help him move them the next day. It might sound small, but that moment said a lot. Because this isn’t some distant “initiative” or abstract charity — it’s real, tangible, and happening right here in Lake County.

The Powerhouse Youth Project represents what every great community mentorship program should look like — relational, grounded, and built on trust. It’s not about fixing kids. It’s about equipping them. It’s about giving them a space to breathe, to learn, and to believe that their story doesn’t have to end where it started.

And honestly, it reminded me why giving back in Lake County — or anywhere — matters so much. You don’t have to change the whole world to make an impact. Sometimes, changing one classroom, one student, or one conversation at a time is changing the world.

What Scott’s doing is simple, but powerful: he’s showing up, building hope, and proving that small acts of faith can create generational change.

How to Make a Difference in Your Community (Even If You’re Not in Ministry)

If you’ve been wondering how to make a difference in your community, start with what’s right in front of you.

You don’t have to start a nonprofit or lead a ministry to change lives. Sometimes, making an impact looks like showing up, listening, and lending your hands to someone else’s vision.

When I left my conversation with Scott, I could’ve easily gone home inspired and done nothing. But instead, I offered to help him the next day — to carry those futons into his new classroom and help him set it up for the students who’d soon fill that space. It wasn’t about the heavy lifting; it was about partnership. About saying, “You’re not doing this alone.”

And that’s really what service looks like — ordinary people stepping into ordinary moments with extraordinary purpose.

You might not be called to lead a community mentorship program, but maybe you’re called to support one. Maybe you can donate to an organization like Powerhouse Youth Project, volunteer your time at a local school, or simply take a young person to lunch and ask how they’re doing.

Making a difference doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like consistency — choosing to care enough to keep showing up.

God doesn’t need us to do everything. He just asks us to do something.

And when we do it with the right heart — out of faith, not recognition — that’s where transformation begins.

What God Might Be Preparing You For

This season of transition has felt strange — quieter, slower, but somehow clearer. It’s given me something I haven’t had in a long time: margin. And in that space, I’ve been asking the same question I shared with Scott over coffee: What is God trying to prepare me for?

For most of my life, discipline kept me moving. It was the thing that carried me through deployments, uncertainty, and the long stretches of everyday life where motivation ran out. But lately, faith has been leading the way. Losing a job, stepping away from what felt stable, and starting fresh has a way of shaking what you thought you knew about purpose.

The more I’ve prayed, the more I’ve realized that God doesn’t waste seasons like this. He uses them to rewire your heart — to shift your focus from building your kingdom to building His. That realization is what gave birth to Coast333 — the company I’m building now — to take everything I’ve learned in marketing, leadership, and strategy and use it to serve mission-driven organizations like the Powerhouse Youth Project.

I don’t want to chase “success” anymore. I want to build things that make a difference. Because faith in action doesn’t always look like standing on a stage or preaching from a pulpit. Sometimes it looks like using the skills you already have to lift up the people doing good work around you.

Maybe this season isn’t a setback. Maybe it’s a setup — a setup for something bigger, deeper, and more eternal. God has a way of turning waiting into preparation. And I think that’s what He’s doing right now — not just in my story, but maybe in yours too.

Your Turn to Show Up

Here’s the truth: you don’t have to run a nonprofit or lead a ministry to make an impact. You just have to care enough to show up. That’s what I saw in Scott. He didn’t wait for perfect timing or permission. He just saw a need and stepped toward it. Because of that, kids in Lake County now have a place to belong, to dream, and to build a future that once felt out of reach.

That’s what it looks like when faith becomes action.

So where’s God calling you to show up? Maybe it’s mentoring a student. Maybe it’s volunteering at your church. Maybe it’s simply being present — the kind of person who notices, listens, and steps in when others stay silent. You don’t need a title to make a difference. You just need a willing heart.

If you want to see what that looks like in motion, take a few minutes to learn more about what Powerhouse Youth Project is doing right here in Lake County. And if this story stirred something in you — if you’ve been wondering what God might be preparing you for — maybe this is your sign to start.

Don’t wait for the perfect time or the big opportunity. Start small. Start local. Start now.

Because this isn’t about chasing success. It’s about choosing significance — one faithful “yes” at a time.