I’m glad you found your way to my personal website.  This is a place for me to share many of my personal writing and reflections from a Biblical worldview for a wider audience.  God has been teaching me much over the course of my life especially in the past few years and this site is a response to that and the hundreds of people who have encouraged me to write more.

As a little bit about me though, first and foremost I’m a sinner saved by grace and love the opportunity to serve in local church lay ministries.  I grew up in a Christian family as my parents were first generation Christians so I praise God that I was exposed to the gospel from a young age and came to a saving knowledge of Christ at the age of five.  I’m currently an entrepreneur, financial planner and counselor, blogger, and writer as well as an Air Force veteran after serving nine years on active duty before I got out of the military at the beginning of 2018.  

I am also a widower after my late wife Sarah passed away in the summer of 2017 after almost five years of marriage.  Sarah and I met and were married back in 2012 in the most joyous day of my life up to that moment! We had a truly amazing marriage that got better each passing day.

As time went by, God brought countless joys as well as numerous trials.  Sarah was a cancer survivor when she battled thyroid cancer at the age of 21, and had experienced other health trials and surgeries in the years before I met her.  Then in the first three years of our marriage we experienced the agonizing sorrow of grief from the loss of three children through first term miscarriages. Sarah’s health continued to decline over the course of our marriage and medical answers mostly eluded us.  

By the middle of 2016, Sarah was mostly homebound as her energy failed so I became her caregiver while continuing to work fulltime.  Then in March 2017, a medical crisis landed Sarah in the hospital from which followed a cascading sequence of events in which we lived in hospitals across two states for the next six months.  Finally in late July, the doctors said there wasn’t much more they could do and we made the decision to enter hospice. Sarah passed away on August 27th, 2017 as I held her hand and bid her an earthly farewell.  She was only 32, and we had been married just under five truly amazing years.

That entire experience was and continues to be the most spiritually transformative time of my life, and I’m so thankful I can rest in God’s sovereignty over it all.  Many of the things I’ll write here will actually be from the prolific journaling Sarah did over her adult life. One of the burdens I have now is sharing what I’ve learned in ways to help others, so I’ve been writing more and more and seeking the Lord’s will for future ministry opportunities.  

This site is also somewhat of an experiment I evaluate some ministry needs I keep seeing.  While I’m not exactly sure yet outside of writing and speaking what they might look like. I’ve previously had some counseling training and got to see what a true Biblical counseling experience could be like with my grief counselor last year following Sarah’s homegoing.  I’ve found most resources for widows focus on older people like baby boomers so I see a gap for younger widows.

In the now dozens of grief books and resources I’ve looked at, I continue to be disappointed in almost all of them for their lack of focus on God’s Word.  Psalm 119:28 says “My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!” This is what I see as the fundamental problem with most of these other grief resources or books. They think God’s Word is at best only part of the answer when in fact it’s the ONLY answer!

In God’s perfect, creative, and beautiful plan though, He has led me to the next chapter of my life bringing Anna and I together.  Out of the ashes of grief has risen the beauty of a new love!  You can read the full story of how God has brought us together here.

So, join me on this journey as I explore what God has next for my life and share many of the hard-fought spiritual lessons I’ve learned along the way!

Biography

Daniel received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Purdue University as a third-generation Boilermaker, where he graduated with Highest Distinction and was named one of the Top 10 Krannert School of Business Seniors in a graduating class of over 850. He has also received his Master of Arts in Military Studies and Strategic Leadership from American Military University. He is now currently working towards a Master of Science in Personal Financial Planning as well as his certification as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP ®). Daniel is a distinguished Air Force veteran and is a three-time Air Force Distinguished Graduate along with numerous other awards and accolades in his military career. He has a passion to help military members and their families achieve their financial goals and has spent hundreds of hours doing pro-bono counseling. You can learn more about his work with military families over at www.MilitaryLifePlanning.com.

His vision is to help people steward their finances as a tool to glorify God and advance His work here on earth.  In late 2018, Daniel launched an independent financial planning firm.  He offers fee-only, fiduciary financial planning to help fellow young widowed spouses as well as servicemembers and their families. Daniel considers it a privilege to now help others by taking what he’s learned about the journey of grief combined with the science of financial advice. Finances are just a tool to accomplish our goals in life so he loves to help people figure out what is most important to them, and then build their lives and finances to be able to accomplish them. Learn more at www.WiseStewardshipFP.com. 

Among other things, he loves reading, writing, music, and exploring new places, cultures, and cuisines. He’s also passionate about homeschooling, adoption, and sharing many of the spiritual lessons that God has taught him in his life through writing and speaking.

From many family trips across the US during childhood, to studying abroad in Asia during college and multiple deployments and work trips, Daniel has traveled all over the world and has a passion to experience different cultures, ideas, and food.

Daniel was married to his late wife Sarah for almost 5 years and has a heart to Biblically help other young widows and widowers through many of the challenges of losing a spouse.  

Daniel is now married to his wife Anna, and lives in the Boston area where they love to explore new places, try interesting cuisines, serve in their local church, and take advantage of the rich history of New England. You’ll find a fast way to become their friend if you play board games with them!