Welcome

Thanks for visiting. This site sort-of documents my journey through six decades of life. -I hope you'll find some humor, some useful resources and , most importantly [to me], some thought-provoking ideas to mull over.

Dots? Tails?

The story behind this website.

When I was in high school, I fell victim to a good-natured prank -the type common amongst peers around 15 years old at the time. The prank was presented something like this:

A friend approached me and said, "I bet I can show you two dots that are very different but you won't be able to tell the difference between them." Believing I was at least reasonably intelligent, I took the bet -not that anything was actually on the line except the "proof" of my intelligence.

The props to demonstrate this test involved my arm and an ink pen. I held out my arm after which my friend placed two dots on my arm, like a colon : Then I was asked to describe the difference between the two dots. Of course, there was none -which I stated with great certainty. Then, with a smirky grin, my prankster said "Ah, but this one has a TAIL!" while simultaneously placing the pen on the upper dot and drawing a six-inch line from the dot toward the elbow. Of course, now I had a long line on my arm in ink for the rest of the day.

Read more about me to find out how this goofy prank from years ago turned into this website.

Hi, I'm Steve

I'm going to introduce myself by starting with the punch line, "labels" that will get you into the neighborhood as to who I am: But don't make the mistake of thinking these labels completely define me -I think you might be surprised. I will take the time to get to know you if you'll afford me the same respect. Fair enough?

I am an evangelical Christian, partly due to parental guidance, then later by soul-searching, study, and choice. But my story is not smooth; I hope you'll hang around and check out my posts for more on this roller-coaster I call "life in the dot". For a summary of my journey, check Me In A Nutshell below.

THE POINT

I now intentionally believe that the Bible is God's word to mankind. While I don't understand all [much??] of what it says, nor why it says it or how it could be, I nonetheless believe it to be true; despite numerous questions. Because I believe, I intend to share thoughts about life on this "dot" (Earth) and possible consequences thereafter (the Tail).

Therefore, proper warning: If you just cannot wrap your head around the possibility that a Creator GOD dynamically cares about humankind, and has provided oversight for the construction of an"instruction manual" that covers 3 thousand years plus of human history, then this site will likely not appeal to you for very long.

BUT

if you foster an open mind, feel any glimmer of a spiritual "pull", then stick around for polite discourse and sharing of stories, ideas, and so on. I look forward to your feedback.

ME IN A NUTSHELL

1960's

Elementry School Years

1970's

Public High School
BS in Geology degree,
University of Alabama

1980's

Oil field work, Gulf Coast
Non-degree Biblical Studies
Worked for small Oil Company

1990's | 2000's | 2010's

Small Oil Company
AD, Computer Programming
Various IT-related jobs

Today

Retired

Typical, kinda "nerdy" kid.

Mom took sisters and myself to a Methodist church -Dad didn't go to church much then. I don't remember having a vote :)

Switched from mom's Methodist church to dad's Assembly of God church; professed belief in Jesus Christ and thereafter was baptized.
Graduated in the top 10 from high school, focused mostly on science.
Undergrad degree in Geology with Psych minor. Some rough semesters; some good ones. Roll Tide! :)
After graduation, I began working in the oil field.
The older I got, my "christian behavior" suffered.

After working a couple of years in the oil field along the gulf coast, I felt impressed to pursue biblical studies in order to further explore my personal faith journey which had begun in high school
Then I went back to work in the oil field for an oil exploration / production company. Again, my spiritual health slowly declined.
But then I met my wife [now of 40 years], had a child, and recommitted to following Jesus. Again.

After working for a time as a geologist, I pursued a computer programming degree which led to a career in IT: This both served me well but also presented problems for me over the next 20+ years [more on the problems in later posts].

I retired from IT a few years ago.
I became very involved in local church & volunteer work
Then... COVID arrived. Need I say more?
Now I am a caregiver for my wife of 40 years, a father of one, and a decisive -yet still very flawed- follower of Christ.

Me In A Nutshell