This Journey We’re On

If you told me ten years ago, I would become a published Christian author; I would have bit my tongue trying not to laugh in your face. In 2008, I worked an average of eighty-two hours a week as a Capture Strategist and Proposal Manager for a large aerospace and defense contractor. My focus then was positioning my company to win lucrative multi-million dollar, multi-year contracts. As I stated then, the work I did saved jobs.

I loved my work and the team of professionals assembled around me. Still, work left me unsatisfied. I crafted eye-watering executive summaries, created contract-winning take-away messaging, and horizontally integrated selling messages across fourteen different volumes and two thousand pages. Each page read as though written by a single author. After contract award, the cycle began again. It was onto the next capture, proposal response, and contract.

I enjoyed the accolades and awards, sizable annual bonuses, and a congratulatory pat on the back now and again, as anyone would. All of it left me wondering what more God had planned for me. Many considered me a talented business writer. I knew in my heart my efforts made no real difference in the world. In fact, I recognized how the world controlled me as I immersed myself in it far too often. I longed for more.

I took advantage of an opportunity to retire early. Two years after retirement, my wife Diane and I found our way to a tiny rural community in northeast Texas. God led us to settle right smack at the intersection of the Piney Woods and the Red River Valley. Growing up in a rural lifestyle and enjoying the many benefits of a small town life, I longed to return “back down south” after retirement. I can’t tell you I pictured my Chicago born and bred Italian-American wife and I living on a small farm and cattle ranch in Texas. We followed where God led us. Our Cross-Dubya ranch was born in 2013.

Outsiders in a close-knit community, we prayed for God’s guidance. He graciously led us to find wonderful neighbors and a spirit-filled little country church that accepted us instantly. Not as “Cooperites”, but as fellow believers. Little did we understand how this was all part of God’s plan for us. Soon, I was writing devotionals, preparing bible lessons, and studying God’s word more than I had done in too many years. Diane found fellow scrap booking and craft friends. Together, they began a card ministry to support and encourage residents of women’s shelters across north and east Texas.

Happy with our new life, my wife and I were settling in well. Then, God said “Now share my gift with the world.” At that moment, I became a Christian writer. With wonderful mentors and writing friends from around the nation, I continue learning my craft and seeking to glorify God with the talents He gave me. I’m still uncertain where this journey will take my family and me. I know I wouldn’t miss it for the world. My greatest hope is that I follow the path God has already laid out for me, with as few self-made detours as possible.

I pray you continue with me on this journey. I will do my best to encourage, inspire, and help guide you to a richer life in Christ through faith. Please join with me as an active participant in this journey we’re on. I look forward to hearing from each of you, with questions, suggestions, or other comments to help me find my way along God’s path for our lives.

God’s blessings…