For two decades I handled ghostwriting for two national magazines, helping business owners and others relate dramatic stories of their conversion experiences and highlights of their Christian walk. Some of them wanted to primarily describe an incredible event that took place 15 to 20 years earlier. That left me wondering whether God had worked lately in their lives.
After a long time, I find myself in the same boat. Now, making a decision to follow Christ was a fascinating, life-changing experience. It transformed me from a hard-drinking, self-centered, live-for-the-weekend guy to someone who looks to the Lord for constant guidance and the strength to deal with life’s challenges.
However, that was more than 40 years ago. What is God doing today? For one, bringing us through the pandemic and all its unsettled and conflict-plagued aspects. The past three years have been tough ones—good on the financial side, but tough professionally and personally. The highlight has been the ways God has humbled me and showed me I still have shortcomings I need to work on. I can see it’s a bit of a lifelong task.
That’s why “faith” is more than a cliché. To me, it is the lifeline that has brought us through adversity and tragedy. My wife and I have endured setbacks like the death of both sets of parents, struggles with life-threatening diseases, and the death of our second-oldest daughter in 2005. In November of 2017, an accidental fall at home left me with a moderate concussion that required six weeks of concussion therapy. The tiredness and confusion lingered for several months longer.
Despite life’s hazards and uncertainties, we know the joy of a restored family, a marriage that has endured for more than 44 years, and the solutions that God brings into seemingly impossible dilemmas. We trust in Him to provide for our needs and lead us through life. I am still excited about what God has done in my life. At an age when many are looking to retire (or already have), I look forward to crafting more stories about the Lord’s work in this world.
