Journal
Welcome to the Faith and Good Courage Journal
a.k.a. “Roadside Notes”
The Faith and Good Courage Journal also known as Roadside Notes shares reflections and real stories from Route 66 and beyond, now also brought to life (Audio and Video) through Roadside Notes Podcast and the Roadside Notes Vodcast.
Roadside Notes from The Route 66 Chaplain
These are reflections from the road — moments of grit, grace, and stillness captured in coffee cups, quiet skies, and motel rooms.
- Click any title below to read the full Faith and Good Courage Journal story.
- Listen to the narrated version on the Roadside Notes on Apple Podcasts (or anywhere you download your favorite podcast).
- Want to drive Route 66 and listen? Click HERE to watch the YouTube version of Roadside Notes.
About the Faith and Good Courage Journal
Welcome to the Faith and Good Courage Journal, where stories from the road meet the quiet strength of spiritual reflection. Not just a blog, but a resting place for real stories, roadside grace, and moments of unexpected hope.
For readers who love to listen, the Roadside Notes Podcast offers narrated readings of these Journal entries — paired with real Route 66 footage from Western Arizona, including Topock, Oatman, Sitgreaves Pass, and Kingman. Each episode blends storytelling, faith, and the rhythm of the open road.
This isn’t a travel blog. It’s a collection of moments. Quiet, sacred, sometimes strange, from a chaplain with a suitcase and a second-hand sense of direction. Some stories were scribbled in dusty notebooks, others came to me somewhere between the gas station coffee and the grace I didn’t expect.
I call it my journal. You can call it what you need. Either way, thank you for spending time with the Faith and Good Courage Journal and the Roadside Notes Podcast.
Roadside Notes
Do Not Grow Weary
Do Not Grow Weary, not because you’ll see immediate results, but because faithfulness always plants something. You may never stand in the field where it grows. You may never watch the seed break soil. But there will be a harvest.
Being Seen And Not Heard
There’s a difference between shining a light and shining it on yourself. Matthew 6 isn’t about hiding your goodness. It’s about guarding your motive.
Gratitude Reciprocates
You may never know where… what you leave behind… travels. A handwritten note. A quiet prayer. An unexpected tip. Gratitude Reciprocates because it invites someone else to carry it forward.
Spring is coming, I can feel it
When I lifted my head, someone was sitting nearby. A man. A worn-haired dog named Pete. And a line that landed like a promise.
Because He Knew I Didn’t
Because He Knew I Didn’t came to me at a diner counter on an ordinary afternoon. Nothing dramatic. No thunder from heaven. Just coffee, clinking plates, and a man a few stools down who sounded uncomfortably familiar.
Your Own Devotional
If you’ve been waiting for permission to share what you’re learning, this one is for you. Your lived faith, imperfect and unfolding, might be exactly what someone else needs to hear today.
The Power Of Listening
Maybe someone near you is carrying a story they don’t plan to open. Maybe they’re just waiting for a reason to speak.
What God Hands You
Sometimes the road places something in our hands we didn’t expect. This Roadside Notes reading reflects on the quiet courage it takes to receive those moments with trust and let purpose grow from them.
Seeing Past The Look
This week’s reflection explores the quiet courage it takes to look beyond first impressions and remember that every life carries a deeper story.
Dropping The Stone
Judgment doesn’t travel well. It rides loud and impatient. It assumes too much and listens too little. Grace, on the other hand, slows you down.
The Coffee That Changed Nothing and Everything
“The Coffee That Changed Nothing and Everything” is about the kind of generosity that doesn’t look dramatic but changes a room, a heart, and sometimes the road ahead.
Today Is Your Chance To Do Better
Not every day asks you to fix everything. Some days simply ask you to begin again.
When Kindness Takes The Wheel
There are moments when the best thing we can do is loosen our grip and let kindness lead.
I See You and I Thank You
Some of the most meaningful moments in life come from seeing someone… truly seeing them and offering thanks.
Feed Somebody
Feed Somebody is more than a slogan, it is a way of seeing.
Finding Common Ground
Finding common ground used to feel simple. A handshake. A neighborly wave. A shared laugh over burnt toast in a diner booth. These days it feels like every conversation carries a fuse.
Strength To Endure
Most people remember Bruce Lee as a martial artist. Fast hands, fierce discipline, a physical force that seemed almost unreal. What fewer people know is that he was also a philosopher.
Rule 66 | Kindness Born of a Mother’s Love
Rule 66 never began as a campaign or a slogan. It began with my mother. Her lessons came from an ordinary kitchen that always smelled of percolated coffee that she ground with a bright red hand cranked grinder.
Love Came Quietly | The Gift That Stays | Christmas 2025
Love does not always arrive with trumpets and angels. Sometimes it comes in the form of a warm meal, a quiet kindness, or a stranger’s smile that feels like home.
Tell | Sharing Your Story Of Faith
Part three of a three-part series called “Living the Mission Statement”.