🌱 Small Beginnings — JUNE 2025

Hey, friends. Welcome to the Journey.

This is the very first issue of my band-spankin’-new monthly newsletter, and I’m so glad you’re here. Whether you’ve followed my story and writing for a while or we are just getting connected—thank you for inviting me into your inbox.

📌 In This Edition…

• Writing Update: The book is happening, y’all…
• Guitar Guide: You know you’ve always wanted to learn…
• Music Moment: Music is, after all, the language of the soul… (or is that poetry?) (or Spanish?!)
• What I’m Loving: Of course, it’s books…
• Next Month: An exclusive book reveal… 🤫

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🖋 Behind the Scenes

Back in March, I joined an Author Cohort through Hope Books—a group designed to guide first-time authors through the writing and publishing process.

In early 2025, I realized that without this kind of structure and support, I’d probably stay stuck in the “I want to write a book” phase forever—and never actually get to hold a copy of my finished book in my hands.

Since April, I’ve been working on the behind-the-scenes, foundational pieces of my project—clarifying my message, refining my content focus, and even retooling my website (yes, including my shiny new YourName.com author URL!). Apparently, that’s Step One in the whole “Fake It Till You Make It” as an author thing.

After a few solid weeks of progress, I got a little off track—because I decided I needed a quiet space to write and record. So naturally… I started building a she-shed in my backyard.

Here’s Phase One complete of my A-frame studio project!

I got even further off track because—well, it’s summer. We’ve had family in and out for a few weeks, long days with the kids riding bikes, reading books, swimming, and bouncing between playdates and parks. On top of that, there’s the usual rhythm of life—meal planning, laundry, grocery runs, lawn mowing, guinea pig care (yes, our two biggest mistakes of 2024, Luna and Lucy, are miraculously still alive and doing quite well for themselves after wintering in our garage).

We’re also in the middle of a nurse transition, which means Izzie’s care has landed more heavily back on my to-do list: therapies, appointments, paperwork—you name it. And to top it all off, our upstairs toilet has started dripping onto the ceiling of Izzie’s room.

So yeah… sorry, Ella Fitzgerald, Summertime and the livin’ AIN’T easy!

BUT—I’m still moving forward! And sending this first issue of my monthly newsletter is a big (and long overdue) step in the right direction.

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🎸Learn To Play Guitar (The Cool Way)

I have been playing on worship teams and leading worship since I was in middle school. I quickly learned all the main chords, but that is as far as I got—I plateaued in my technical skill level and guitar playing did not bring me any real joy (though I’ll admit, as a teenager, it was way better to be playing music than to be trapped as a congregant!).

Early on in my marriage, my wife said I was good at leading songs, but not necessarily at leading worship (wise words from a wise woman!). Over the course of that year, I realized that worship is much more than chords (duh)—or simply leading a song. In 2017, I reinvented the guitar and my worship leading style and taught myself to play with an alternate tuning that completely changed the game for me. I discovered how to bring flavor to a guitar—or multiple ways of playing the same chord that highlight different tones or notes—sometimes more dissonance, sometimes more harmony. All of this made the music come alive, which helped me to stop focusing on leading worship and allowed me to just simply worship—getting lost in the beauty and goodness of God.

Maybe you have always wanted to learn to play guitar, but bogged down with G, C, and D fingerings. Maybe you already know the main chords but feel “meh” about playing? Wherever you are, here’s a FREE resource I put together on playing with my preferred alternate tuning—I would love to share it with you. With this guide, I guarantee you will be playing your favorite hymns in minutes! It’s that easy!

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🎶 Motivational Music Moment

I saw this video this week and loved it so much, that I gave it its own place in my newsletter—it’s just that good. Jacob Collier is considered the Mozart of Gen Z. He understands music and chords at such a profound level, he is widely accepted to be a musical genius. His ability to reharmonize and restructure and thus re-create songs in his distinctive style is absolutely stunning.

In this video, he performs Fix You by Coldplay, alongside surprise guest star Chris Martin (the lead singer of Coldplay). Except—for the bridge of the song, he turns the audience into a 15,000 member choir. It is magnificent. I was already way past full-body chills—but to my shock, I realized that I was also indeed—actually crying. Absolutely stunning performance.

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📚 Books I’m Reading

Here are a few of my recent reads (if you are needing a good book for the summer).

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
This book is quite possibly the worst story I have ever read—and simultaneously, the most significant. It is Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield, but set in Appalachia at the turn of the 20th century—that sliver of rural America where the forgotten fend for themselves. It is a coming-of-age story (of sorts) of a boy with an unyielding instinct to survive, told in his own raw and unrelenting voice—highlighting life’s cruel injustices—including the brokenness of foster care, systemic and generational poverty, child labor, failing schools, lost loves, the opioid epidemic, coal and tobacco industries, and grief that leaves no part unscathed. It’s the silent fury of a child raging against the world and every broken thing. (Editor’s note: there is an abundance of swearing…) At any rate, the magnitude of the genius of Kingsolver’s writing here cannot be overstated.

Dissolution by Nicholas Binge
My wife told me about this book that was on an author’s newsletter that she follows (shout out to the Lazy Genius!). It is a Sci Fi thriller mystery (and sometimes horror??) book about an elderly woman who uses an advanced piece of tech to time travel in and out of her husband’s memories, searching for clues from his past. It is a real page-turner and explores ideas of age, identity, love, and human connection—and the resulting pain of losing those things to the inevitable nature of time. It is dark and intense and beautiful all at the same time.

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
As an elementary teacher and father of small children, I have literally read thousands of children’s books over the last few years. Most of your classic read-alouds all follow a very basic and repetitive narrative structure (no shade, but the Boxcar Children series is just flat and unimaginative from book to book…(ok, maybe a little bit of shade…)) Peter Brown, however, absolutely nails it with this series. Yes, it is a story about nature and technology, but it is also a story about identity, the power of kindness, the complexities of motherhood, and the incomparable bond of friendship and community—and what it means to belong. (Plus, there’s also a great movie out about it already!)

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
I am currently listening to this book (which is read by none other than the Academy Award winner, Meryl Streep!). Maybe it’s because I also have three daughters (though this story is about 20 years away from where I am sitting), maybe it’s because Ann Patchett’s writing is quiet and piercing—like the whispered poetry of a prayer recited for ages, maybe it is all the nostalgia packed into her flawless narrative mastery, or the simple setting of a cherry farm in Michigan in the golden glow of summer—but this book contains all the warmth and beauty you could imagine. It is incredibly moving.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
I am a huge fan of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club series. This book is no exception. It is fun and easy and witty and light (well, as light and fun as you can get when leaving an array of gruesome murders strewn across the globe…). As we’ve come to expect from Osman, the characters of this new series are instantly loveable. This is a great one if you love to read and love to… murder?

Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
In many ways, this book serves as a follow-up to The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, as John Mark Comer continues his exploration of spiritual formation and transformation. Whether we realize it or not, we are always being formed—by the culture around us, by the pace we live, and the voices we choose to listen to. Every moment, every habit, every influence is shaping us into who we are becoming. To be formed by Jesus is to become his apprentice—to be with him, to become like him, and to do as he did. The early disciples called this way of life a Rule of Life—a sacred rhythm of practices and relationships that slows us down and creates space for God to move. It is in these unhurried, surrendered spaces that God does what only He can do: transform us from the inside out, shaping us into the likeness of Christ. I would highly encourage you to pick this one up.

What are some books you’ve been loving lately? Hit reply—I’d genuinely love to know.

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🔭 Looking Ahead

In the coming months, I’ll be sharing:

• Book (and A-frame studio) project updates
• Honest thoughts and reflections on the creative and caregiving journey
• Book and podcast recommendations
• General life hacks
• And hopefully, a few things that help you feel seen

Thanks for being here. Thanks for walking with me. We’re just getting started.

Gratefully,
David

P.S.
If you enjoyed this newsletter, would you forward it to a friend who might like it too? Or if you think you know someone who might want to try out the guitar (the cool way)! I’d love to grow this community with intention and heart.