A New Thing

"See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland."

--Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)

As I sit here at the Hibachi Grill with my beautiful wife, three of my four children, my parents, my brother, and my 10-month-old grandson, I can't help but get emotional.

I am 54 years old today. And those years have been quite the adventure, to say the least. A little over a decade ago, I moved to Idaho from Oklahoma to chase the Fame, Fortune, and Accolades of being a "celebrity" chef. My plan was simple: work hard, create food that stood out from everything else (think Italian Grandma's classics with a unique flair), be awarded a Michelin Star, and then die young at the top of my game (ala Anthony Bourdain). I was well on the way to achieving that goal in 2020 after I had helped open a high-end steak house booked weeks out and getting rave reviews from guests and critics alike.

At that point, I was approached by an investment group that wanted to partner with me to open a fine-dining Italian restaurant and participate in an urban renewal project. The deal was done. The building owners had accepted our offer. And then God spoke (although I didn't know that then), and my life started radically changing

Looking back at my life now, I shouldn't be surprised about God's presence. I may not have known or even believed it. Still, he was always there, working, directing, and mainly protecting me (aka keeping me alive).

God worked on me while I was a heavy metal drummer living, working, and partying in Los Angeles in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

He was working at Chapman University in the mid-1990s when he presented me with the greatest gift of my life: my beautiful wife, Chele.

In the early 2000s, God was at work protecting me and helping me grow in work ethic, mental and physical endurance, and determination during my time in the United States Army.

He was faithful to me even after I threw away that beautiful gift that he had presented to me at Chapman, and I left Chele and our four children for a life of sin and desire.

He was at work again, protecting me by keeping me alive and out of prison during my time riding with an outlaw motorcycle gang.

My career as a chef was all Him. From when I decided to go to culinary school (and give up a six-figure income in the finance industry) to the doors he opened to get me to this point of opening my restaurant, it was all Him. Granted, I didn't see that then, and my pride and ego led me to believe it was all me. Only me. My ability. My talent. My creativiness. My hard work. My determination. It was all me, in my mind, anyway.

And then came that time in early 2021, when I was getting ready to open my restaurant, and he intervened in my life. One text. That was all that God needed to change my life. The words: "I am thinking of bringing the children up to Idaho so they can see you and their grandparents." That text hit me like a lightning bolt. Chele and I had not communicated in years. I had not seen my children in over 5 years, except for my oldest son, Dominic. With that one text, I would see them again within a month. Little did I know then, just how much my life would change from that point.

Fast-forward four years to the present day. I am sitting at a Hibachi restaurant, surrounded by people who love me. Most of them would not be sitting here with me if it wasn't for the grace and work of a loving God.

If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be writing a blog about God and his plan for my life, I would call you crazy. But yet here I am. My prayer for the posts in this blog is that they entertain, make people laugh and cry, and inform readers about God's love for them and his transforming power that is meant for everyone. If he can change my shattered life and use me for his will, he can do that for everyone. So please come along on a journey with me as I live out God's will for my life as a Disciple, Husband, Father, and Chef. Come with me on a trip that exhibits a life Daring Faith.