Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD TELL THEIR STORY— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

This day after Thanksgiving, I think it is important to consider and share my redemption story, just like this psalm tells us to do. I need to recount and be thankful for what God has done for me.

It starts with my sister Kathy, who was the first Christian convert of our family, shortly before I was born. Then my father and mother followed suit. Prior to accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord, my parents were attending a New Age church and caught up in the pleasure-driven lifestyle many in the 60s and 70s were living in. The results were broken families and unfulfilled hearts.

My parents became Christians and were attending a Christian church when I was born. They told me about Jesus with a new-believers' passion. I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord at age 3. The first verses I memorized were the six verses of Psalm 1 at age 5 or 6 — so precious.

When I was in kindergarten, I had an interesting turn of events happen to me. (For context, I was born with a small right hand and a shorter arm). One day, I was sliding down an eight-foot slide and tried to flip off the side of the slide at the end (all of the cool kids were doing it). I ended up having my small hand slip, which meant all of my weight, plus the force of the speed from the slide, was falling down on my left hand and arm. I broke my arm. On the way to the hospital we prayed. I prayed that I would not feel pain when the doctor set my arm (it was a major break). I sat there waiting for him to set my arm, and it seemed he was just fooling around. Turns out, he had already set it, and I felt no pain. He was amazed. We told him we had prayed.

As I grew in relationship with God, my parents went into full-time ministry, serving at the San Jose Rescue Mission. I grew up (1st grade through college) with lots of friends and contacts who were from different countries: Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Hong Kong, Korea, Germany, Sweden, Norway, etc. And I saw God grow ministries and thousands of these immigrants become followers of Jesus.

When I was 13 years old, everything in my life seemed to change. My mom, Charlene, died of cancer. She was a ROCK for our family and for me. Now she was gone. Life got more challenging, as my dad remarried in one year. My older brothers and sisters were out of the house. They checked in as much as they could and tried to be there for me and my younger brother. Through it all, God was faithful.

My family was a bit splintered after I graduated from High School, and I went to live with my sister, Kathy, (and her husband Paul) and served as a youth intern at their church. They invested in me, and I needed it as I was still hurting from all of the challenges after my mom died.

And then I went to college, graduated with an accounting degree, and went into commercial lending. It was then that the second miracle of my life happened. I met a woman named Cherish who lived in another state, through my sister-in-law. I was a little rough around the edges, and we wrote letters back and forth. Somehow, God convinced her she should marry me. We have now been married 25 years and have five children. God gave me a poem I wrote in 5 minutes about my love for Cherish, as a confirmation of his hand in our relationship. It is, by far, the best poem I have ever written.

One more event stands out, among many, a faith-marker. I served the Lord in church throughout my time as a Christian. Eleven years ago or so, I was attending a great church, when the pastor started to twist the verses in the Bible to apply to his preconceived ideas of what we needed to do in his church. God put it on my heart to challenge the elders and pastor on this false teaching, and I did this as thoughtfully and prayerfully as I could. But they would not listen. So my wife and I left the church. She was pregnant with our fourth baby. I had started and was leading the prayer ministry, we had an active community group, etc. This was hard as we were separated from many friendships. I became a bit depressed and disillusioned.

My friend, Todd, suggested that I go to a class called Like It Matters, with Scott Black. It was a weekend lock-in class. After going through this class, I didn’t know what hit me. God moved (through Scott Black) to remove an old and core fear that was holding me back - The Fear of Rejection. My eyes were opened from this to see the world and people without the limitations of fear. I was confident in Jesus and in life. This changed the trajectory of my life. Out of a tough church situation, God redeemed it and transformed my life.

I began to trust God more and more. And he moved in my heart. I started Back the Blue Idaho, with the help of some friends, to bless the police in my area and show them the love of Jesus in the middle of national riots. We fed them Christmas dinner on Christmas Day. We have done this now for over eight years. We now serve 425 meals on Christmas Day, at five locations, over nine shifts, with 60 to 80 volunteers. During COVID, more riots ensued. God called me to plan a big rally to support the police. I wrestled with him about it for a week. God told me he was “all in” — he wanted to show them his love for them. So I decided I was all in too — with God.

In August of 2021, I decided to follow his lead, contacted the local police chief, and began to plan a rally (I had never done this before). Forty-five days later, with help from so many every single day, we had over 1,000 people attend. We raised $43,000 to run this rally at the largest event center in Idaho and still adhered to the distancing restrictions. We had a keynote speaker from New York, who was a Fox News contributor, and an MC from S. Carolina, who is one of the most famous trainers and coaches for leadership in the law enforcement community across the country. It was a huge success!

Now I serve in a community group, write devotionals every day, and help lead 8th grade boys at my church. Based on my background and my weaknesses, I have no business being where I am, with the impact I have had and do have today. It is only by the grace of God. My splintered extended family has been brought back together in a major way. God has led me to start a new company. And I trust him more and more.

He is faithful. He redeemed me from some very tough situations. I have cried out to him when I was in trouble many times and he always came to my aid and helped me. His plans are for my good and he turned tragedy into victory time and time again. I know he will do this for you too, if you choose to believe. Good things come to those who believe.

What is your redemption story?

Lord, thank you for all of the people you have blessed me to know, be friends with, and serve with in my life. Bless them today, I pray, with a faith that grows and multiplies!