User talk:Keepermike

Working through College

   1999 thru 2002

Mike returned to his home state of Florida after his enlistment to a much different setting. Things had changed very much in his hometown since he’d left four years prior. Mike is quoted as saying his first year out of the military was, “…the hardest year of my early adult life. My parents were living in Alaska and had made me an offer to live in their Florida house to get started in the civilian world. It sounded really good over the phone, but it turned out to be a bad decision. I didn’t pray about the decision. We struggled a lot at first financially. Life was way too hard for us that year.”

After about a year and half of persistent hard work, and with some help from family and friends, Mike & Cameron found some solid ground to build from. Mike took full-time employment at a semiconductor manufacturing corporation. He would spend the next four years manufacturing microchips and going to college whenever he could squeeze classes in.

Surprisingly, Mike also spent some time singing in a heavy metal band during those years as well. “It was lots of fun to make music. But I’m still not quite sure how I found myself singing in a metal band. It was another learning experience.” Mike learned a great deal about music composition during that time, and the experience enhanced his love for music. Since then, he’s created various digital music compositions for his personal website projects.

A Strong Wind

   2003 thru 2005

In 2003, Mike and Cameron bought their first house together. They had worked extremely hard over the previous four years, and it was finally paying off. Mike was still patiently working full-time and going to college whenever he could fit classes in. When he did find free time, he could be found body boarding off the coast of Florida. “The summer of 2003 was special. I had been body boarding every summer for the previous 2 or 3 years. But I went body boarding many times a week in 2003. I was in love with the ocean that summer. My house was being built, I was riding waves, listening to music, and reading books on the beach.”

The next summer, in 2004, was a stark contrast to the year prior. In June, Cameron graduated from nursing school. One month later, Mike received word that the semiconductor corporation he worked for was downsizing their operations. Mike had been planning to become a full-time college student to finish the remaining portion his college education for quite some time, so the timing was just right to terminate employment. But just as one major change occurred seemingly painless, another more disruptive test was on the way.

That summer, the state of Florida would endure FOUR MAJOR HURRICANES! Mike & Cameron would experience severe conditions from two of the four major hurricanes threatening to destroy their brand new home. Cameron was called in to the hospital to work overnight during both storms leaving Mike alone to protect their home. “When the power went out at night, it was bad. It was steaming hot inside and pitch black. I had a flashlight and a battery powered radio to get the latest weather updates. But when the eye of the hurricanes came close, I couldn’t get much reception. I remember sitting in my recliner with my dogs praying to God that my roof didn’t rip off. The wind was gusting over 100 mph, and I could hear my screen porch roof cracking and lifting. Praise God, it didn’t come off.”

Mike was finally a full-time college student in 2005. It had taken almost six years after his discharge from the Air Force to establish things in his life so that he could focus on college. Being a student also created opportunities for travel. He traveled with Cameron to San Francisco, California and to visit family near Yosemite National Park. “Yosemite opened my eyes to Earth’s natural marvels. I had been outdoors all my life, but Yosemite was something else. Some of the vistas, like Glacier Point for example, are breathtaking. You look out and it feels like your looking into a living painting.” He also cruised the Hawaiian Islands that year with family. “It was great to be learning and traveling at the same time. Hawaii is paradise. I witnessed some of the most amazing environments there. The coolest experience had to be our helicopter ride over the island of Kauai. We saw Waimea Canyon and the Na Pali Coastline from a bird’s eye view. Words can’t describe how beautiful that was. And then we had the treat of flying into the wettest spot on the Earth - Mt. Waiʻaleʻale. You can’t even get in there every day by helicopter because of the clouds. But we were lucky and got in. You can’t get up there any other way. The helicopter didn’t have doors, so we could feel the air. The temperature dropped very quickly and the sun disappeared. All we saw around us were mossy, green cliffs with thin waterfalls that seemed to fall forever. What a gift from God! What a blessing those moments were.”

Change of Heart

In 2006, Mike & Cameron sold their home while the market was thriving, and decided to move forward with some of their dreams. They were becoming more adventurous. They loved being outdoors and exploring. As a birthday present for Mike, they decided to get SCUBA certified. They became certified and made ten dives off the east coast of Florida that year, including several dives in the Florida Keys. Mike became very fond of diving. “Diving is like being transported into another world. The surface of the ocean is nothing like what’s underneath. It’s an amazing world down there.” One year after being certified, Mike would enter a shark tank at The Florida Aquarium in order to share space with several species of shark in a captive environment to learn first-hand about their behavior. “I had already been diving with wild nurse sharks in the Atlantic. They seemed very docile. The tank dive gave me a chance to share territory with a few other species of sharks. It’s as controlled of a setting as you can get. The reef sharks were by far the most aggressive. Although, I’ll never forget having a sand tiger shark’s jagged-tooth face swim only two feet from my face! They swim so slowly while they patrol, so there was plenty of opportunity for us to examine each other. It was eerie. I won’t lie.”

After seven years of overcoming unyielding adversity with school, Mike finally reached his goal of completing a college education. He graduated with an Associate’s of Arts degree in 2006, and was very close to completing another Associate’s Degree in Science that he would eventually complete the following year. “It took so much perseverance to attain those degrees. There were so many reasons and opportunities for me to quit. But I just kept chipping away at them for years until I finished.” He was majoring in Computer Information Technology at the time with plans to find work in computer maintenance. But something special was about to take Mike by surprise and change his career path entirely.

Mike attended a volunteer orientation at a local zoo in August of 2006, and began volunteer work there. “I’ve always had an affinity for animals. And this volunteer work showed just how natural zoo keeping came to me.” Mike had talked about being a veterinary technician off and on for many years. But he never had the time or resources to explore that kind of work before. Something undeniable sparked inside Mike during his time volunteering at the zoo. It had taken years for him to discover, but now it was finally clear that Mike had found his calling to work as a zoo keeper.

Fatherhood Begins

In January of 2007, while Mike was still volunteering at the zoo, he received an extraordinary message from his wife. Cameron was pregnant!! After ten years of marriage, Mike and Cameron were finally going to start their family. “I came home from a class before noon that day. I walked into our apartment and saw Cameron standing by the door. She said to me, “Guess what?” I said, “What?” like I had said a million times before. She said, “I’m pregnant.” I think I repeated, “No you’re not.” maybe a thousand times. She kept saying, “Yes! I am.” with a big smile. She showed me the pregnancy test, and I was speechless. I had so many different emotions hit me at once.”

Mike graduated with his second Associate’s degree as planned, and this time it was with honors. But his heart was not in computers anymore. His volunteer work at the zoo, along with some volunteer work on a ranch giving horseback rides to handicapped children, secured his desire to work with animals in captivity.

Mike enrolled at the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo – the only AZA-accredited teaching zoo in the world. The waiting list to be accepted was over a year long! He had heard great things about the Teaching Zoo, and knew it would give him the training necessary to realize his calling. Cameron’s pregnancy was progressing at this time, however, and Mike was needed at home more. So once again, he put his family before himself. “Family is very important to me. We waited a long time to begin our family. I knew in my heart my desire to be a zoo keeper wouldn’t fade. I had to be patient with that and let things progress slow and steady.” Slow and steady would turn out to be the way to success for Mike in zoo keeping.

That summer, Mike and Cameron took some time off to travel again. They went to Chicago, Illinois and to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to visit with family. Mike recalls it as being so great to be around family while Cameron was pregnant. “Everyone was so happy for us. It was such a special time. I’m glad we were able to travel and see them while she was pregnant with Alex.”

On October 11, 2007, Mike witnessed the birth of his son Alexander Louis Teems and became a father. Seeing his son’s face for the first time will always be something Mike remembers. “I was really excited. I’m not kidding. I had Cameron’s left leg pulled up with one arm, and my other arm was behind her head. I was squeezing her and shouting, “1… 2… 3… 4…!!” Mike laughs at himself. “She had to tell me to ease up. I was just so excited! Our nurse showed me his hair as he was coming out. And then his face popped out, and my stomach felt like it vaporized. A burst of adrenaline hit my stomach, and everything just stopped. I couldn’t believe his face was right there. All I remember from that point is leaning over to him and I kept repeating, “I’m your Daddy. I’m your Daddy.” I think that was easily one of the biggest moments of my life.”

Classes at the Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo were scheduled to start just three months after Alex was born. Mike had to quickly learn his new role as a father, move his family three hours north to Gainesville, settle in, and be prepared to enter a very intensive, competitive training program for zoo keepers. It was all happening very fast.

Becoming a Zookeeper

   2008 - 2009

In January 2008, Mike entered the Zoo Animal Technology program at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. The program is an intensive five semesters with very little time off. He worked through many weekends and holidays, and having an infant son made it even more difficult. “I was about eight to ten years older than most of the students. Very few of them were thinking about marriage or children. So I was alone in that regard. I had to meet all of the requirements of the program along with all the requirements at home as a father. It was rough. I had no time at all outside of the work at the zoo and caring for Alex.”

Mike and Cameron worked very hard through all of 2008. The work was relentless. They had very little help with childcare for Alex, so they were forced to squeeze everything out of their schedules. It kept them busy all the time. “It was so hard for me to watch Cameron work at the hospital all night, and then have to stay up all day watching Alex. We had no choice though. I was always studying or at the zoo training. We just didn’t have enough hours in the day at that point.”

The husbandry and class work was unyielding, but Mike found the material to be more fascinating than any subject he had studied before. The assignments were challenging. It took many hours of studying to perform at the level Mike demanded of himself. The constant busyness led to Mike being sick four different times that year. “I couldn’t believe how many times I was sick that year. Four times in one year is unheard of for me! I’ve probably been sick four total times in the last eight years prior to this.” One time, Mike was working at the zoo on a weekend in the pouring rain with a 102 degree fever. “There were times where I didn’t think I was going to make it for sure. But there was also no way I was letting this opportunity slip away. I love animal keeping, I believed things would get better, and they eventually did.”

Mike gave guided tours to hundreds of visitors at the zoo. His enthusiasm was contagious. He loved telling the visitors all he knew about the animals. He was doing extremely well in the classroom and growing as a zoo keeper. “We worked with just about every type of animal there. One week it was birds, then hoofstock, then cats, then primates, then reptiles. Handling venomous snakes is something I will always remember. The zoo had a massive Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake we hooked every week for feeding and cleaning. She was a very big girl, but pretty docile on the hook. Even so, she was very dangerous.”

Mike enjoyed catching and restraining the animals for their medical checkups. He was able to participate in several captures of Springbok at the zoo. “I enjoyed working with the hoofstock. I could see myself working with hoofstock in the future. They fascinate me. The springbok are small, African antelope. It is safe to hand grab them if you do it right. I was able to get in on several captures. We had two females in a coral during one of the catchups. Neither of them would come near me, so I assisted the Assistant Curator after he grabbed the horns. But they were pronking really high in the air during the capture in that coral. Their hooves were almost at chin level! I will never forget that. We all did a great job working as a team.”

After five very intensive semesters at the Teaching Zoo, Mike reached an important milestone in his zoo keeping career, and was awarded with his third Associate Degree. He graduated with honors again and performed bravely. “The odds were against me. I did well. I will never forget just how much we sacrificed. How hard we worked. Cameron’s an amazing wife. God was there for us. Without His help, there is absolutely no way I would have ever finished that degree. God was there to guide me through all the tough times. He led me through to the finish line with honors. I earned the highest grades I’ve ever had in college before, and performed extremely well by His guidance. From here, I’m going wherever God leads me.”

A Leap of Faith

   2009 – 2010

Mike graduated from the Teaching Zoo in August of 2009. Shortly after graduation, Mike began interviewing for zoo keeping jobs. He interviewed for jobs in California, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arizona. The competition was fierce. Many applicants applied for each position. Mike made it into the top 3 out of 164 applicants for one position. It was a dream job working with elephants! He was complimented on his resume, and was assured they were impressed. But they called a few weeks later and told him the job went to someone else. He came so close. “It was during the holidays when all these ups and downs were happening. I was so discouraged after that call. I believe God was molding my character at that point. He was preparing me.”

Mike’s discouragement didn’t last long. God was continuously reassuring Mike that a job was coming. And at the start of 2010, his first interview that year took him from Florida to Arizona. “It was a long flight. The whole experience was a leap of faith. It was an animal theatre job at a big zoo.” Everything went well during the interview. But Mike did not get the job.

His second interview, in 2010, was with a small zoo in Idaho. “The interview went extremely well. I was so happy they chose me. I had been out of zoo keeping for way too long. I was missing the work badly at that point. And this seemed to be where God wanted me to go.” It took seven long months of searching and traveling in faith before Mike landed his first zoo keeping position. He applied for over 60 positions before getting hired.

A whirlwind kicked up after Mike received the job offer. Everything was happening fast. There was so much to do! They had been preparing for this moment for seven months. Arrangements were now being made for Mike and his family to relocate over 2300 miles to their new home in Idaho! “We dove right in and couldn’t wait to get moving. It was very exciting to finally be on the go again. God was doing so many works in our lives as we set off on this major journey.” Between the two of them, Mike and Cameron managed to pack up and load their household and belongings onto a mover’s truck and into their car. It was an expensive move during a time of economic recession in the country. It was an act of faith.

Their travel plan was to take them through 10 states over 7 days. They would begin in Florida, and then drive through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, and finally ending in Idaho. It was an entirely different experience to be on the road living out of hotels for that long. “We would drive for about 6 hours a day communicating only by hand radios and the occasional stop for food or gas. We’d pull in to a new city each day exhausted and ready for a chance to be off the road and resting together in the same room. It would take us about 45 minutes just to unload and reload the vehicles each day. We were like our own little traveling show on the road.”

They were blessed with sunny skies for most of the trip. It was such an educational drive. “We had the chance to see such a large portion of the United States in such a short period of time. We were able to witness the changes from the south in Kansas to the north in Illinois and then into the Midwest. We watched the sunset over the Missouri River. We reached the Great Plains in Nebraska, and it was crops as far as the eye can see, and very windy. Then the Rockies came in Wyoming. There were so many interesting environments to observe.”

On the last day of the trip, Mike and his family left Rawlins, Wyoming under snowfall. Visibility worsened as they drove. Mike was driving with his entire livelihood through the Rockies on wet roads and under windy snowfall. It was a very intense drive. “I’ll never forget that drive. It was so cold. The truck was plowing ahead like something out of a science fiction movie. The windshield wipers froze into ice blocks and would barely clear enough off the windshield off for me to see out. I had my wife and son behind me too. It was so hard to go through that. I was praying and listening to God the entire way. At times, I thought the whole thing might be a mistake. But God kept reassuring me that this was part of His plan.”

On that stretch of road in western Wyoming, the trip climaxed with its most dangerous moment. Mike was struggling to see the road and slowed down to allow time for his windshield to clear. An impatient semi-truck driver pulled up behind Cameron. In a very reckless move, the driver decided to try and overtake both Cameron’s car and Mike’s truck under horrible road conditions. As soon as the semi-truck was alongside Mike a car came zipping passed in the opposite lane - the lane the semi-truck was passing in! The semi-truck moved his truck within inches of Mike’s truck and the oncoming car was forced into the shoulder to avoid collision. “I’ve had a couple of close calls in my life. This one registers as one that I didn’t even realize was happening until after it happened. Cameron was able to watch the whole thing play out in front of her because she was behind me. Praise God no one was hurt.”

Mike, Cameron, and Alex woke up on April 1, 2010 as Idahoans. It was no April Fools' joke. It was a long journey filled with famous American sights, dangerous road conditions, and family bonding. Many rivers were crossed. Mountains were traversed. It was a journey to remember. “I really learned a lot about our great country on that drive. We drove through the foothills of the Appalachians. I was able to see the rolling hills of Kentucky and how the more industrialized version of farming changes as you get into Illinois and Missouri. I could sense the unionized nature of the people there. In Nebraska, the crops expanded and went on for miles. The Rockies appeared as tiny bumps on the horizon as we approached. And then they became massive and we went way up in elevation. Life is very different in the Rocky Mountains. We are looking forward to learning how to live here.”

Saved through Affliction

Mike was enjoying life as a zookeeper in Idaho. His family was spending lots of time exploring the northwestern United States. They traveled to many wilderness areas. Their adventures took them to Craters of the Moon National Monument, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and the National Elk Refuge. “The elk refuge was incredible! We went there in the thick of winter. It was freezing cold out there on the refuge. We went up close to the elk on a sleigh ride. I’ve never seen that many elk congregated into one area before! It was a sight to behold.”

Everything was going very well for Mike. He was growing as a zookeeper and fulfilling his dream to explore the natural wonders of the United States when he received possibly the worst news of his entire life. Mike and Cameron had conceived a child that winter. In April of 2011, they received crippling news that their baby was stricken with a condition that was incompatible with life. “We were told that a spontaneous anomaly occurred during conception. It occurs in one out of every 60,000 conceptions. Nothing from science could explain why it happens. They could just show us where it happened – at the chromosomal level. But what caused it? They don’t know. There was no explanation for it. It just spontaneously happens because it can.”

God was doing a work in Mike’s life. That was very clear. “It pretty much derailed my whole grip on life. It brought me closer to God than I have ever been. The Lord God gives and He takes away. When He acts, it simply will be. There is no interfering with His will.”

Both Mike and Cameron agreed to allow the baby to live in her womb during the entire duration of the pregnancy. God had a plan for that child and they wanted to learn exactly what the lesson was. During that difficult time, Mike spent many hours with Alexander in the wilderness. “We went to Yellowstone so many times. We hiked all over the place. We also hiked near the Teton Mountains. I hiked about 33 miles that season with Alex on my back out there. We saw so many amazing things. We saw bison, elk, bear, birds of prey, beaver, moose, coyotes, and deer. I’ll never forget those times.”

He also was blessed with an opportunity to raise a baby camel at the zoo. “That was a huge surprise! It was a lot of fun raising her. She was this tiny, one month old camel rejected by her mother. She weighed about 125 pounds or so when we first started taking care of her. After 5 months of dedicated, hard work, she weighed over 400 pounds! And she looked just great. I really became attached to her. I will always remember raising her.”

On August 22, Mike was awoken from his sleep in the late hours of night. Cameron was going into labor. God had decided this would be the conclusion with their child. He was delivered at the hospital just as the sun was rising. Mike held his dying baby and rested on God. “Our baby couldn’t breathe. He looked at Cameron once. He made a couple of tiny gasp sounds. I held him and prayed for him. I prayed that Jesus Christ would receive him into heaven in a very peaceful and merciful way.”

Michael David Teems III lived for 39 minutes. His life touched many people. His family was deeply moved by his short time on Earth. “This baby has had such a deep impact on me. His short existence here opened my eyes about our world. Nothing is permanent here. But God is permanent. God is everlasting. He has purposes for all living creatures. So who are we to judge what we see? We experience exactly what God allows. And if we are afflicted, we should accept the suffering and learn from it. If we are blessed, we should count our blessings knowing that nothing here is permanent.”

The Future

   2012 and beyond

Mike and Cameron are still happily married high school sweethearts. Their son Alex is healthy, happy, and in his Preschool years. Their family is growing and learning how to live complete as faithful Christians. Mike continues his work as a zookeeper. Thus far, he has worked with over 130 different species of animals in captivity from all over the world! His love for God, family, and wildlife continues to grow and flourish.

Last Update: 10/21/11