Jay Colle

I have always loved the section in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel where it describes how Samuel set up a stone in the middle of the desert and gave it a name. Ebenezer. The stone of help. The idea behind this was to have a tangible place to remind the people how God had pulled them through a lot of rough patches and was faithful. They were instructed to tell the stories of this help whenever they came upon the monument, to pass on the truth of God’s faithfulness so that future generations would hear the stories and be encouraged. These weren’t made up fairy tales of forgotten tribes in foreign lands, they were true stories that these people had lived through and experienced first hand. Samuel saw the need to pass these stories on to their children so that they could understand that God was true and unwavering for them just as He was for their parents. And, prayerfully, they would continue the tradition.

I recently created a book of stories from my life, a gift to my children. The original is a complicated volume of images and words reproduced online in hardback form. And expensive to recreate. Some people have mentioned to me they would love to read it so I decided to break it up into smaller chunks and offer it here in three different formats. I will add to the series and, eventually, get all of the stories posted for download. I hope you enjoy them, my own Ebenezer, personal “stones of help,” to remind you that, up to this point, the Lord has surely helped us. And He will continue to do so.

Volume four is a step-by-step documentation of a trip to New York city in the winter of 2004. My wife and I visited my brother and his wife and this was the first of many trips the four of us have shared. New York alone is an adventure. Stir in the four of us and even the mundane takes on a funky sheen. Come, join us as we explore the world's greatest city...