My name is Daniel Smith.
I have the privilege of being married to Katherine Smith and being the father of Noah and Micah Smith.
I grew up in a Christian home, with parents who love God and had us in church every time the doors were open. I trusted Christ as my savior at 7 years old, but then lived as the lord of my own life until I was 18 years old. 
At a Christian camp one summer, I heard a message out of Mark 8 entitled A Call to Die. That to follow Christ meant to die to ourselves and follow him. That radically impacted me, but I didn’t know what to do with it until my senior year when, in a bible class, we read Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. There, I realized I had embraced cheap grace my entire life and had not yielded to Christ as Lord of my life.
That summer, I had the joy of serving at Pine Cove. Here, Psalm 34:8 came alive to me. I was able to taste the joy of trusting Christ and living in submission to him. I went to school and played football at Mississippi College, but was always looking for a way to invest my life for God’s glory. I would volunteer at churches and work at Pine Cove as often as I could. I eventually quit football to free up more time to serve. 
After graduation, I spent 6 months in New Zealand investing in the inner city youth of Auckland. After returning from there, I spent one more year at Pine Cove before pursuing a coaching and teaching career. I started teaching and coaching, and got married in August of 2008.
After 8 years of teaching and coaching, I felt God’s call to work with students in a local church. That is when I was hired by Citybridge Community Church. There, I learned how to care, shepherd, and equip the saints for the work of ministry. It was a privilege to be on mission with that local body of believers. My family and I are excited to be on mission here at South Spring. To equip the next generation for the work of ministry, and to plant the next chapter of South Spring’s legacy wherever God may lead.