Living with a Grateful Heart
Bob at Hiway Baptist

I was raised Catholic, but once I was old enough to choose if I would go to church on Sunday, I chose not to. From early on, I was extremely skeptical about anything supernatural. For example, by the time I was four, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't possible for Santa to cover the whole world in one night, it couldn't be the same Santa in different department stores, and therefore he did not exist.

During my time in the navy, even though I did not give matters of faith much thought, I can see God's protection in those years. My love for motocross and my competitive nature kept me safe. Some of you may be thinking that "safe" is a strange word to use, what with the big jumps and land rush starts. As a teenager out on his own for the first time, and especially in a navy town, every sinful, self-destructive vice imaginable was just outside the base or port. My training regimen, and my meager salary all going towards racing, took those options off the table.


In the early 80s, I often rode at a track on a naval airbase in Oceania, Virginia

After my four-year stint in the USN, I worked in the IT field for the rest of my working life. Like many of my peers, I was firmly in the "It can't be that simple" camp when it came to the Gospel. What shook me out of it was when my mother became ill and died a few months later. Towards the end, I saw the peace that her faith gave her and realized that I didn't have that at all. Her death was the biggest loss in my life up to that point and I didn't deal with it that well. I realize now the seeds of the Gospel were planted. It just needed someone to come along and gently water them.

A few years later, Steph started attending services at a non-denominational church near our house. Eventually I tagged along. The messages really hit home, often as if they were just for me. After attending for a while, we came to Christ at a small group meeting. Besides being active in small groups, I would serve in various ministries through the years, took a few mission trips, and even started playing bass in traveling music ministries. I hadn't picked up the instrument up for over 20 years.

New Orleans Mission Trip Photos
2010 Mission Trip to New Orleans

When I think about how I was before I came to faith, the biggest difference is my attitude towards my time and money. My nature is to be about as stingy as a person can be, and to plan everything out. By striving to abide in the Holy Spirit, I now genuinely enjoy being generous. I am also much more relaxed now that I have stopped trying to control everything. I can still be prideful and self-centered, and fall short what feels like all too often, but I don't feel discouraged or ashamed. I focus with a grateful heart on all He has done for me through Jesus Christ, all He continues to do through the Holy Spirit, and the assured hope of salvation. Good days or bad, that is always true. I will praise Him always.

The Ride Continues
On our first visit to Phoenix, we went to a church in Tempe that was a sister church of our one in Minnesota. We felt at home immediately. When we decided to move to Arizona about a year later, we knew we already had a church family waiting for us. Everything else was just logistics. An interstate move can be a very stressful event, but it never felt that way to me. I was mostly excited about what God had in store for us next. Our time with our brothers and sisters at Desert's End has been a huge blessing to our lives. I'm not sure we'd even be living in Arizona if not for them.
Deserts End Faith Team

It was only after much prayer that we reluctantly left Desert's End to join HiWay Baptist. HiWay was 5 miles from home versus 20, had more ministry opportunities, and was in the same area as the Christian Motorcyclists Association branch that I had recently joined, New Life.

Bob at Hiway Baptist