Moments of Grace: moments when God’s presence is felt.
Welcome
My collection of stories describe the moments of Grace which have guided me to believe very deeply and personally that there are forces around us, angels, if you will, who watch out for us, nudge us, teach us, and occasionally humble us.
My Journey
I am a husband of 36 years, father of 3, grandpa to 6, and I have experienced enough “God moments” or “moments of Grace” in my life to start writing them down. I am nothing special in the faith arena; my wife has always been a much better example of a faith-filled person than I am myself. I am always grateful for that persistent positive support and belief.
I Believe
I have never been able to call up moments of Grace, or somehow conjure an angel to place themselves in my presence for me to learn from, but I have been positively amazed by how these moments have happened when I am willing and open to the help and encouragement which I receive.
My Community
I see the human need for connection, and the blessing of making and having good connections in different cultures and locations all around the world. I believe that we are connected to people because we were meant to be. Some as a result of our families; other connections are from encounters which we have had the privilege to experience.
Easter weekend in Shenyang
On one of my China trips, I finished my China business in Shenyang, and had the weekend before I continued on to Japan on Monday. Easter weekend as it turned out. Now Easter is not a huge [...]
Our dad’s last week
After a year of enduring a multitude of procedures, chemo, and radiation for his bladder cancer, Dad was sent home from the hospital with hospice support after his ureters became blocked in the end. Doctors estimated he [...]
Pub Cabin Music and Beer Therapy
Having just returned from a trip to Utah, my brother-in-law brought a 6-pack of Wasatch Brewing's Polygamy Porter to a big music jam that we held in our backyard. It's apparently a very dark beer, and uses [...]
Mikel
Mikel had a very slight build, I guessed 25-ish, with an engaging smile and an earnestness about him that I found difficult to ignore. While I usually quickly say "No, thank you…" to the credit card promoters [...]
Are our lives planned or random?
I think from time to time that we all need to ponder whether our life is or was planned, our experiences through childhood considered by our parents, what God's plan is for us, and how much we've [...]
My Cancer Story
I graduated from college early and went home to farm. A year and half later, I found a lump on my right testicle. It kept getting larger and I saw a urologist, who assured me it was [...]
I lost a friend last week
A very good friend of mine took his own life last Wednesday. He had struggled with depression for several years, but I'm sure that the isolation of COVID-19 contributed. How could it not? He had been a [...]
The Jewel Tea Truck
In the subdivision where I spent my earliest years growing up, there were several dozen kids within five years of my age, and we all spent summers outside of our houses, often cruising the neighborhood in large [...]
Palm Sunday miracle
Our little St. Peter's Church had beautiful stained glass windows. It had a small organ, small choir, but we made good music. Our pastor always believed that we could do big things, even if our congregation was [...]