About

I created this website because I believe strongly in sharing my experience, strength, and hope so that others might not feel like they are alone in their struggles.

I’ve been on the recovery journey since 1989 (when I began participating in 12 Step groups) and I’ve seen, no matter where we are at in life, that we can always encourage others. Likewise, we can always learn from others.

So, where did the name come from you may be asking?

The Armor of God – The Scripture, Ephesians 6:10-20…

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God,so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mysteryof the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

• The Journal is really everything I’m documenting here (and most recently, my YouTube channels, Journal of a Warrior’s Journey <new> & my Ostomy Tips (The Karah Life) channel), my random thoughts about life and faith (see blog feed posts), the creativity of hobbies, music (see Jay & Karah Music), and the love of road trippin’ too. This entire web project is my web journal to those who are looking for encouragement in some tough times and some of the ways I do life ODAT.

• The Warrior is you and me; we are fighters in the sense that we do not give up – even though we may sometimes want to – we are called to press on; even though we may have even attempted to throw in the towel; directly or indirectly. As previously stated on my welcome page, I believe our battle is multi-faceted, but primarily, our battle is spiritual. Yes, there are times we need to stand up for what we believe is right (that can mean something different for all of us) but ultimately, the battle belongs to the Lord. As a believer, my job is to BELIEVE; it is to pray – for me – for you, to suit up in Christ daily, and to go where God leads – whether that’s physically with my feet or maybe with my fingers on the keyboard.

• The Journey is the walk we all take in this life. We all have a journey to take. Sometimes we will cross paths with wolves, lions, and bears. Other times, earthly angels (we may not even know). The important thing for me to remember is that the destination is not the most important goal. Of course we need goals, but if we only concern ourselves with that as our focus, we miss the meat in the middle of the birth to death timeline sandwich called “life”. The joy is in the journey along with the pain. It is all part of the human road us spiritual beings walk. All of it is to be experienced. Often times, its that very pain that pushes us into a renewing of our souls because it pushes us towards a personal relationship with Jesus.

And speaking of Jesus, my deepest hope is that people know how much the God of the universe uniquely, genuinely, radically, and completely loves them. I want people to know that He is with us in our struggles; that He carries us when we can’t walk on our own; that He created you and me for the simple, yet profound reason which is that He wants us to spend life with Him. He actually cares about the details of our lives here & now and He cares about our hopes and dreams. Most importantly, He cares where we spend eternity. After all – He is the one that created us so why wouldn’t He?

But – even if you choose not to accept that free gift of life-changing love, He doesn’t stop loving you. Now that’s truly the greatest love of all; that the God of the universe would come to us in human form, to die for you & me so that we may live – even knowing that we may not accept Him. Wow 😭.