I have been relatively quiet about my faith for much of my adult life.

Perhaps even too quiet.

That may surprise some people because faith has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.

I didn't discover faith as an adult.

I grew up in it.

Growing Up in Church

My parents, my sister, and I attended church regularly throughout my childhood.

Most weeks, we were there every Sunday.

Many weeks, we were there on Wednesday evenings as well.

Church was not an occasional activity.

It was simply part of life.

One of the places that had the greatest influence on me was Mid-South Youth Camp, a Christian summer camp affiliated with Freed-Hardeman University.

I spent a week or two there almost every summer growing up.

Eventually, I became part of the staff.

To this day, it remains one of my favorite places in the world.

Some of my best childhood memories were made there.

The Week Before Boot Camp

One detail has always stood out to me.

The week before I left for Marine Corps boot camp, I was working at Mid-South Youth Camp.

One week I was surrounded by campers, counselors, Bible classes, friendships, and a Christian camp environment.

The next week I was standing on the yellow footprints beginning Marine Corps boot camp.

Life changed quickly after that.

Very quickly.

Following My Faith Through Different Seasons

I tried to follow my faith through childhood, the Marine Corps, Iraq, college, entrepreneurship, and adulthood.

Sometimes I did that better than others.

My faith journey has not been a perfectly straight line.

There were seasons when I was walking more closely than others.

There were seasons when church attendance was consistent.

There were seasons when it was not.

That is simply the truth.

I don't believe honesty weakens a faith story.

I think it strengthens it.

Most people do not experience life as a straight line.

Most people experience growth, setbacks, victories, failures, progress, and course corrections.

My journey has been no different.

Iraq at Nineteen

I deployed to Iraq as a nineteen-year-old infantry Marine.

Looking back, I did not feel small.

In many ways, I felt larger than life, the way many young Marines do.

I felt capable.

I felt determined.

I felt ready for the mission.

But Iraq gave me perspective.

I quickly realized that I had entered a world full of giants.

I am not talking about Marine officers or senior enlisted leaders.

I am talking about the enemy.

Some of the men we were fighting had been involved in warfare longer than I had been alive.

Think about that for a moment.

I was nineteen years old.

Some of the men we were fighting had spent decades around conflict, insurgency, and war.

That reality earned my respect.

Not admiration.

Not fear.

Respect.

War has a way of reminding you that the world is bigger and more complicated than you once imagined.

My faith remained important during that period of my life.

Not because it removed danger.

Not because it removed uncertainty.

But because it provided an anchor.

College, Business, and Adulthood

After the Marine Corps, I continued pursuing my education and eventually earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Memphis.

I completed my military service honorably.

I became a father.

I entered entrepreneurship.

And on November 10, 2008 — the Marine Corps Birthday — I founded Two Marines Moving.

I did not set out to build a faith-based moving company.

That was never the business plan.

I set out to build a great company.

I wanted to serve clients well.

I wanted to create opportunities.

I wanted to build a strong team.

I wanted to provide excellent service.

I wanted to build something that would last.

As the years passed, however, something happened.

The company increasingly reflected the values of its founder.

Faith influenced how I viewed leadership.

Faith influenced how I viewed responsibility.

Faith influenced how I viewed accountability.

Faith influenced how I viewed service.

Faith influenced how I viewed opportunity.

Faith influenced how I viewed character.

It was never a marketing strategy.

It was simply a reflection of who I was becoming.

Returning to What Matters

Today, I am an active member of my local church.

I attend Sunday services regularly.

I enjoy the fellowship.

I enjoy the potluck meals.

I enjoy the social events.

I enjoy being part of a church community.

What has changed is not that faith suddenly appeared in my life.

Faith was already there.

What has changed is that I am more comfortable being open about it.

For years, I probably said less than I should have.

Today, I am more comfortable acknowledging something that has been true for a long time.

Faith has influenced my life.

Final Thoughts

I am a Marine.

I am an entrepreneur.

I am a business owner.

I am a leader.

I am a father.

And I am a Christian.

None of those things tell the entire story by themselves.

Together, they tell a much more complete one.

Faith has been one of the threads running through my life from childhood, to Mid-South Youth Camp, to Marine Corps boot camp, to Iraq, to college, to entrepreneurship, and into the present day.

Not perfectly.

Not without mistakes.

Not without seasons of struggle.

But consistently enough that I would be dishonest if I pretended otherwise.

I did not set out to build a faith-based company.

I set out to build a good company.

Over time, the values that shaped my life naturally helped shape the company too.

Faith is one of those values.

And today, I am more comfortable saying so than I have ever been before.

Moving Done Right.
Semper Fidelis,
Nicholas Edmond Baucom
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Two Marines Moving

Marine Combat Veteran Founded & Owned Since 2008. Faith-Based. Veteran-Led. Industry Leading Pay. Moving Done Right. Join the Mission.