Light a Candle

As time passes, I become more grateful for the many blessings bestowed upon me through the grace of God.  Many of those blessings come from people, some I know, others may be strangers, but their positive effect on my life is undeniable… like the grace of God. Ten years ago, a young attorney friend who …

A House Built on Prayer

I believe God guided me to the home I reside in, the men who built it, and the small, rural, desert community it is a part of. The house is less than a mile off the extended runway of the local airport, which is home to SkyDive Arizona, arguably the number one skydiving facility in …

The Veil of Heaven

One of the most beautiful books I have read is Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace by Kent Nerburn (1999).  In his introduction, Mr. Nerburn writes, “There is a story told by some of the Native American people about the stars in the midnight sky.  Each star, they say, is a hole pierced in …

Season Change

We faced many challenges on many fronts this summer that affected our work on our Haiti agriculture project in Arizona.  The reasons are unimportant. The fact is, after planting 2,400 linear feet by the end of May with Armenian cucumbers to okra to squash to melons, and everything in between, we realized zero harvest excluding …

Dealing with Challenge

My favorite month is September.  As a child of the Berkshires growing up in New England, how could I not revere this special time of the year when the air is crisp and clean… when the trees display their finery in preparation for the winter. As September wanes, I reflect on a challenging 2022.  As …

Promises to Keep

As July’s horrific violence in Citè Soleil subsided, we delayed our summer camp until the second week in August, and we completed the first of three weeks without incident last week. As many as 276 children came to the camp each day.  Sadly, we could only accommodate 150; we had to turn 126 children away.  …

Crossing Paths with Angels

The medication to relieve my BPH (benign prostatic hyperplasia [enlarged prostate]) has not been effective.  Passing urine and bowel movements have been erratic and hardly successful.  I made a good decision late last week when I followed the advice of my friend and Mrs. tVM and scheduled an appointment with my VA medical team for …

Check Engine Soon

Juggling multiple balls and faced with several challenges, another situation surfaced early Wednesday morning as I headed east to water the farm.  I hadn’t driven a mile when the “service engine soon light” glowed brightly on the dashboard.  I took a deep breath, said a prayer, and continued east.  With zero rain in the last …

Summer Camp in Haiti

We keep the faith.  We know there is a way and with God’s grace, we will find it. Within 24 hours of yesterday’s post searching for support for our summer camp in Haiti next month, another Samaritan – husband and wife – contacted us and volunteered to financially sponsor the complete camp.  Their generosity enables …

Knucklebones

It was exactly 20 years ago (Flag Day 2002) when I chose to leave ‘corporate America’ to write a book.  We published The Olympian, A Tale of Ancient Hellas six years later.  It remains my ‘bestseller.’ Early in the story, Simonides and his traveling companions reach the harbor town of Itea and enter an inn …