We savored a romantic courtship in New England for six months, embarking on new adventures in new states every weekend. I wrote a myriad of love songs for Melissa. By September, I was back in Cincinnati to finish my senior year of college. 

Melissa moved to Seattle to start college. Only, our separation made her so sleepless (in Seattle) that one month (and a $300 phone bill) later, she dropped out of school, packed her Thunderbird, and drove solo cross-country to be with me. I promptly proposed on New Years’ Eve on an Ohio Riverboat and we married 1 year later on New Year's Eve 1991 in Cincinnati. We lived in the San Jose bay area for 5 1/2 years and moved to Kansas City in 1997. Melissa gave birth to our 3 oldest children (Makenah 8, Zachary 5, Nicholas 3) and we adopted Alenah Wenying (age 1) in January 2003 from the Hunan Province of China. We were married nearly 12 years and were hopelessly in love with Jesus, each other, and our precious children.

                                        

We decided early on to make God a priority in our family. We made family our first ministry. God honored that choice and was always faithful. Many trials stretched our faith, including the 92 total hours of excruciating labor to bring our first three children into this world, the exhausting efforts to care for our son with Down Syndrome, two miscarriages (1 nearly fatal tubal rupture), our special-needs adoption of Alenah from China, and even the choice to tithe faithfully while Melissa stayed home full-time with our children.

In addition to being a stay-at-home mom, Melissa was also an Interior Designer (Associates degree from West Valley College in Saratoga, CA) and an USBORNE book Independent Consultant. She worked tirelessly with our son Zachary and his challenges from Down Syndrome. Alenah was also a special-needs child, due to her pulmonary-stenosis heart condition. Melissa had just begun home-schooling our children in August of 2003.

Life was never easy and money was never plentiful, but God was always good and family was so much fun. Perhaps our special-needs children taught us to appreciate the little things in life so profoundly. We treated family moments (and pictures) as something sacred to behold and treasure.

                                                                        

Eight short months after returning from China with Alenah, we were returning from a wedding on August 30, 2003 in Wichita, Kansas (200 miles from our home in Kansas City). We had just finished our last ice cream together. An hour later, with four sleeping children in the back of our minivan, we were caught in a flash flood at night on I-35 and were washed off the highway by a raging river 6-feet high and hundreds of feet wide. After kicking out the driver’s window, three of us were instantly flushed out of the van. Our three youngest were still buckled in their car seats. When I was drowning with my family underwater in the darkness, I could literally sense the peace of God assuring me that they were all going to Heaven and that it was all going to be OK. There was no pain. There was no fear. I continued to simply trust God. Somehow, He pulled me above the rapids and over to the shore. It’s a miracle I’m alive.

Through Melissa’s creativity, we turned normally mundane things into something miraculous. Through the example of my parents (married 52 years) and Teachers like Dr. James Dobson (Focus on the Family) and Dr. Joe White (Kanakuk Camps), we did our best to raise our children well, cherish them, hug them, eat meals together, and savor every moment. Melissa always encouraged us to “Make a Memory” rather than make more money.

By 3am, they had found our minivan a mile and a half from the highway, upside down, with my three youngest children still inside. By 10am, they had found Makenah a half-mile from the van. It wasn’t until the third excruciating day that they found Melissa – two miles from the highway in a retention pond.

I was the only survivor. Even as I identified each of their cold, wet bodies, I had peace through the pain and tears – because of Jesus. He conquered death and removed the sting. In the worst moment of my life, God’s presence was the sweetest it’s ever been. From the first to the last ice cream, God blessed our family with sweet fillings and a life of “No Regrets.” His purpose through me is not finished yet. I believe I miraculously survived and am alive to tell the remarkable testimony of hope and God's grace through tragedy. God can bring beauty from ashes. There is peace through Jesus. God is still good, all the time. 

The hope, peace, and comfort of God are available to all of us. It’s up to us to make a choice to receive His free Heavenly gifts. Today, accept Jesus’ Resurrection gift of eternal life. Trust him, and have peace.

(A brief background on me: I worked as an Electrical Engineer for 13 years [BSEE from University of Cincinnati], and just recently earned my MBA from Keller Graduate School of Management in Kansas City in June 2004.Currently, I'm self-employed full time in this ministry of speaking, composing and recording music, and writing.) 

     

God is still good, all the time