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 the new 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
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. It makes room. It leaves space between what you see and what you decide.
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”.
Heal | Grace On The Move
Part two of a three-part series called “Living the Mission Statement”.
Drive | Faith In Motion
This reflection is part one of a three-part Thanksgiving series called “Living the Mission Statement”.
Thanksgiving Dinner on the Road
Pie for Strangers is a Route 66 Thanksgiving story about kindness, gratitude, and sharing.
The Mission Statement
The Mission Statement was born, like most good things, over coffee.
Staying True At The Bottom.
Maybe success isn’t about climbing to the top, it’s about staying true at the bottom.
Facing the Storm | The Buffalo Lesson
Every one of us has our own version of facing the storm.
Upright Mobile and Blessed | Gratitude In Motion
It has become my everyday answer when someone asks how I am doing.
Being Seen And Heard
Being seen and heard might sound simple, but most of us spend a lifetime craving both.
Keep Moving Forward
I have learned that a weary traveler does not need a speech, they need a nudge. A warm cup set down without fuss.
Faith and Money
It started, like most stories do, over coffee. The kind that comes in a heavy white mug, sitting on a diner counter somewhere between hope and habit.
Woke at the Counter
It’s the quiet work that happens when no one’s clapping, the extra cup poured, the chair held, the grocery bag carried.