Jack A. Madson www.dailyredemption.com
About the Author
I grew up on a dairy farm in the Pacific Northwest. It was a small farm community where people helped one another, cared for one another, never locked a door, or took the keys out of the car. Growing up in this rural area in the 50s helped me appreciate family and close friends.
We attended the Lutheran church as a family, confirmation classes, Sunday school, Sunday afternoon with the cousins at Grandpa and Grandma’s farm with cookies and Kool-Aid in the afternoon.
My view of God was this far off authority that held reverence and respect. It was not relational. I left the family farm when I was 18 and went to work for another farmer who was stricken with arthritis and needed help. Instant freedom was a fantastic experience as I finished high school and started college. It was innocent, and I maintained my anchor in my faith, in-part through very close friends. Relationships do matter and make a difference in our lives. They encourage, guide, and influence what we think and what we do.
I thank the Lord for my young adult friends and one in particular whom I’ve asked to write an introduction in this book. Pastor Don Brekhus is not only my longest-oldest friend, but he is also my best friend. We would be riding around with shotguns in his pickup truck, looking for ducks, and he would have these Bible verses pasted on the dashboard. I can remember reading them and thinking, boy, he is going over-board here – what’s this all about?
College came and the Peace Corps in the middle, with the experience of a lifetime living in Iran in Baluchistan. Again, my faith was tested as I learned to trust the Lord.
My faith grew through this time, and in the late ‘60s, as I returned to college in San Luis Obispo, California, life was crazy, especially in California. Nearing the end, I made a trip up to Seattle to see family and met another old friend, the daughter of the farmer I had worked for my last year of high school. Kathy and I connected like a couple of old farm kids.
We’ve been married now over five decades. We’ve fought hard for our marriage. We learned how to extend grace to one another, just as the Lord does. The providence of God has stood by us and kept it together. As our family grew up, we kept involved in church activities, building our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
Later in my career, my life took a challenging turn. I kept re-inventing my professional identity and lost track of my spiritual identity. I made terrible choices that turned everything upside down.
I put the brakes on life and did not work at any job for a full year. The Lord put me on a “project,” to learn about Him through His word and draw deep into his well of grace and restoration. About that time, a good friend of mine, Rae Mackay, was dying of cancer, and as I talked over this project, he helped me form the structure around life “with” and “without” God. The “panels” have been a work-in-progress for the past 18 years, reading, praying over, and claiming back lost ground.
Building a relationship with anyone takes time, and the one with the Lord is extraordinary for each of us. It’s to be treasured like gold and sought after as a panhandler on the Klondike. Choices are so important; the Lord gives them to us every day. The best ones get made with Him standing close.
May the Lord be your closest partner in this journey through life as you write your story and build your future eternity with the Lord God Almighty!
Blessings,
Jack A Madson
Poulsbo, Washington
www.dailyredemption.com
