A while ago, I heard a sermon based on Acts 27. It details a shipwreck in which the Apostle Paul was involved.
I often imagine how I would frame a message while listening to one. I know that’s not the best use of the time, but it’s like a filmmaker watching a movie and noticing all the technical things the average viewer wouldn’t. As I listened, I imagined how Paul’s navigation of the storm might be viewed from my perspective, as if I were in his shoes.
The storm was unique not only in its intensity and length. It was described as a nor’easter. The ancient version was not the kind experienced along the East Coast of North America. Paul’s nor’easter consisted of typhoon-like, blinding, hurricane-force winds. It was extreme and lasted fourteen days.
There was no “Peace, be still” command from Jesus, nor was He walking on the water toward them. I often wondered what Paul was thinking. He had heard those stories, but none of them appeared for him in that moment.
I developed a sermon and taught it at church and later at an outreach event. I had extensive notes but condensed them to fit within the time constraints of a sermon. Those notes were eventually saved on a thumb drive along with many other sermon outlines and teaching materials.
Then life happened.
Like everyone else, I experienced storms of my own—trauma, drama, pain, disappointment, and heartache. I know people from many different backgrounds, races, religions, denominations, and walks of life. One thing we all have in common is that everyone experiences storms. Yet, like Paul’s, some storms are especially intense and seem to last far longer than we ever expected.
It was after experiencing a major storm that I began reflecting on what I had learned. What I discovered didn’t fit neatly into any religious ideology. I remembered those old notes on the thumb drive and opened the file again—not to prepare another sermon, but to search for clarity and understanding about what I had gone through.
As I expanded those notes, I researched everything I could find about trauma, tragedy, adversity, and pain. I studied people who had faced overwhelming circumstances. Some survived and thrived. Others did not. Yet every story contained lessons worth examining. I looked at people from different backgrounds, different eras, and different belief systems because I wanted a broader perspective than simply accepting someone’s interpretation and being told it came directly from God.
Over time, the idea for a book began to take shape, though I did nothing with it for several years.
Writing, however, had always been part of my life. I wrote for my high school newspaper, and later my work appeared in college newspapers and church newsletters. Eventually, I realized that much of my ministry had become centered around the written word. Before long, I felt the desire to write again.
My first book grew from notes I had saved years earlier. It became a Bible study titled The Road to the Promised Life: From Bondage to Promise: The Spiritual Journey of Every Believer. It is primarily a teaching book.
After gaining confidence from becoming a published author, I felt ready to tackle a more personal project.
Making It on Broken Pieces: Finding Purpose When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan is still rooted in Scripture, but it also explores practical insights that people from many backgrounds can relate to. Within its pages, I share parts of my own story along with stories from both famous and ordinary people who faced adversity and found a way to move forward.
The book draws from Scripture, history, personal experience, and the lives of individuals who endured difficult storms and discovered purpose in the process.
My prayer is that readers who find themselves in the middle of a storm will discover that brokenness does not have to be the end of the story. Sometimes the very pieces we think are ruined become the means by which God carries us safely to shore.
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