Curious Tales of a Common Man: A Legacy Journal

You can’t make this stuff up! Life, it seems, has a way of ambushing you with the profound when you’re least expecting it. It’s in the quiet moments—a hotel lobby in London, a prison cell in Turkey, a bedside on Christmas Day, a coffee shop in Pittsburgh—that the most important lessons reveal themselves.

I’ve learned that leadership isn’t about being a superhero, but about being human. It’s not about having all the answers but about asking the right questions so others can find their own way forward. The goal isn’t to be a solitary driver on your “My Bus,” but to build a community on an “Our Bus,” where relationships are the true destination.

Sometimes, life challenges us with fear, like facing down two “Cowboys in Turkey” in a room where you know a tragedy happened just a year earlier. In those moments, you have a choice: yield to fear or press on with the message of your heart. I’ve found that choosing faith often leads to a peace that defies all logic, a peace that can blanket you even in a prison cell with a single lightbulb.

And then there are those rare, earth-shaking moments. The day my earthly father, a man I’d struggled to impress, looked me in the eyes and gave me his blessing. That was a moment of release, a passing of honor and favor that has given me a new purpose: to give that blessing away to others.

It’s all part of the journey. A journey where you might find yourself being pelted with lilies in a hotel lobby, but you’ll also discover that sometimes, it’s in those moments of spiritual wrestling that heaven breaks through and opens a door to hope. Ultimately, these stories aren’t just mine. They’re a reminder that we can’t live tomorrow on yesterday’s God. We have to keep searching, keep connecting, and keep trusting that in every unexpected moment, a greater purpose is at work.