My life changed on a rooftop in Berkeley, California. I was twenty-one years old, a student at the university and living in one of the infamous co-ops. The house motto was “Those who know don’t tell and those who tell don’t know.” It was 1978 and the social scene was everything you’d expect. Alone on that roof, I looked up at the sky and saw untouchable stars. I looked out at the bay and saw a black hole.

That’s emptiness.

That night, I felt completely alone. I had high grades and plans for the future, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that none of it mattered. My life reminded me of ice cream melting in the sun, sweet but destined to become a mess.

After earning a BA in History (my dad would tell you I graduated Phi Beta Kappa), I moved back with my parents. We’re a close family, and I sensed immediately that something had changed. I was right. My mom had become a Christian. My dad always had a quiet faith, but I became more of aware of it. It didn’t take long for their prayers to work. In the middle of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, a time when the world felt crazy, I said a prayer that went something like this: “Okay, God. If you’re real, I’m willing to listen.”

Not exactly humble, but God was (and is) exceedingly kind. He also knew how to get my attention . . . Boy, did he ever! A good-looking guy rode into my life on a motorcycle. My husband has a story of his own. It’s dramatic and joyous, the stuff of rock n’roll and the Psalms. We became Christians on the same day but in different places. That night, he knocked on my door.

“I’ve got something to tell you,” he said. “You won’t believe it.”

I had something to tell him, too.

We spoke at the same time. “I’m reading the Bible.”

It didn’t take long for us to fall in love (maybe five minutes?) A few months later, we got married on a Tuesday morning in May. After a honeymoon in Baja, we headed back to our first apartment and the journey began. It’s continued for twenty-eight years with children, dogs, birds, careers, disappointments, successes and enough car trouble to curl a woman’s hair.

The Lord’s been with us every step of the way. Between California and Virginia, we’ve attended churches with eight people and churches with more than 8,000. We’ve been blessed by teachers including Pastor Greg Laurie, Pastor Don Thomason, Dr. Gene Scott, Reverend David Swarthout, Pastor Merlin Gindelsperger, Reverend Lon Solomon of McLean Bible Church and, most recently, Pastor Brian Bolton at Centerpointe Christian Church in Lexington, KY. The common denominator among these churches and our lives is a deep and abiding love of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes I think about that rooftop in Berkeley. If someone had said, “Vicki, let me show you a movie of your life,” and then rolled the film of the coming years, I’d have been speechless. All my life I’ve wanted to write fiction. To date I’ve sold 14 books. I wanted a family of my own. Mike and I have two wonderful sons who have married strong and accomplished women. I wanted adventure. I found it in a life that’s been everything but dull.

Amazing, isn’t it? I love what Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Life is good. God is better. Jesus Christ is best of all.

With much love,
Vicki

We passed this cross on the way back from Baja. It was in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between San Diego and Calexico.

Mike and I spent our honeymoon in Baja California. Back then, San Felipe was a sleepy fishing village.

That's Mike behind the camera and surrounded by fireworks. Definitely a self portrait!