family
Lynn and I have shared most of our lives together, living on both coasts and in the middle of the country before eventually returning to Arkansas, where we now live near our children and grandchildren.
My timeline is fairly simple: growing up in small towns in Oklahoma and Arkansas, college in Oklahoma, seminary in Kentucky, marriage and welcoming our first child, Brian, then South Carolina where Laura joined our family. From there back to Arkansas where both children grew up, finished high school and started college. Lynn and I took a surprising journey to Seattle, Washington for a little over ten years before returning to Northwest Arkansas.
But life is more than a series of locations and timelines. What matters most is the life built within those seasons — the relationships, shared experiences, challenges, faith, and continuity that hold everything together. Family has been both my foundation and my anchor through it all.
ministry
My work has always felt less like a career and more like a calling centered around relationships, music, faith, and service.
Church music was not originally the path I expected to follow, but life is shaped both by plans we make and pathways that unfold before us. Serving as a church musician and ministry leader became a deeply meaningful vocation — one that allowed me to work across traditions and denominations while discovering how much people of deep faith ultimately share in common.
The settings were diverse and sometimes unexpected, but the central themes remained remarkably consistent: loving God, loving others, and building strong communities of faith.
coaching
Several years ago, a new path began to emerge — one that continues today in two complementary lanes: coaching people through life transitions and leadership development while also supporting Lynn in her professional organizing business.
Though different in practice, both are rooted in helping people navigate transition, reduce overwhelm, clarify what matters, and move toward healthier and more meaningful lives. I began this work while still serving in music ministry, and rather than feeling disconnected from my earlier work, it felt like a natural extension of it.
The transition has been gradual, steady, and filled with continuity.
most important
If I had to choose one word that best explains both life and faith, it would be "relationships." We are created for connection — with God and with one another. After a lifetime in Christian ministry, I still believe Jesus summarized it best: love God and love your neighbor. Everything else flows from there.
Years ago, I wrote a sentence at the top of my prayer journal that I still return to almost daily: “Everyone needs a guide as well as companions if we are to become the people God fully intends us to be.”
I believe that more than ever.
We all need guides.
We all need companions.
And perhaps part of our calling is to become both for others.