Start Where You Are
It all begins with an idea.
Hello everyone, and welcome to The Freedom Road.
I started this site for one simple reason: I believe freedom isn’t about luck. It’s about small, consistent good choices made over time.
I didn’t grow up with everything handed to me. I was raised on a small cattle farm in Oklahoma where the summers were hot, the winters were cold, and the work never stopped. My parents taught me early that if something needed doing, you just put your shoes on and got to it.
By my teens, I knew farming wasn’t my future, but the lessons stuck. Hard work. Responsibility. Not waiting for someone else to fix things. After college, I spent nearly 34 years as a budget analyst in civil service for the U.S. Air Force. Along the way, I married Edna — a Tech Sergeant at the time — and we raised four children while moving around the world during her 20-year Air Force career.
Here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Life changes. You can’t control everything, but you can control your faith, your discipline, and the choices you make. That’s what The Freedom Road is built on:
Faith – The foundation for direction and purpose.
Discipline – The steady force that turns intentions into results.
Good Choices – The small, consistent decisions that shape your future.
You don’t need a big, dramatic starting point. You don’t need the perfect plan. You just need to start where you are and take the next right step.
If your finances are a mess, start with one bill.
If your health is slipping, take a walk today.
If your mind is cluttered, shut the phone off for an hour and breathe.
It’s not about getting it all done overnight. It’s about showing up, day after day, in small ways that add up over time.
So welcome to The Freedom Road. I’ll be here sharing stories, lessons, and encouragement from my own life and the lives of people I admire. My hope is that something here will spark your next good choice — and the one after that — until you look up one day and realize you’ve built a life you’re excited to wake up to.
Your Freedom Road starts here. And it starts now.
The Power of Good Choices
It all begins with an idea.
When people talk about making a change in their life, they often think in big terms. Big goals. Big plans. Big leaps.
But here’s the truth: most of the time, it’s the small, consistent good choices that do the heavy lifting.
I’ve seen it in my own life.
Back when I first started working in civil service, I wasn’t making much. But I decided I’d put a little away each payday. Not a lot — just enough that I noticed it. I didn’t have some grand investment strategy or a financial advisor whispering in my ear. I just made the same small decision, over and over, for decades.
Looking back now, that one choice — repeated consistently — was a game-changer for my family’s financial freedom.
It works the same way in every area of life:
In your health – Take a 15-minute walk after dinner instead of sinking into the couch.
In your relationships – Say “thank you” every day, even for small things.
In your mindset – Start the morning by reading something positive before you check your phone.
My son said it perfectly when we were talking about working out one day. He told me, “If I don’t do it today, what makes me think I’ll do it tomorrow?” And he’s right. Tomorrow rarely gets easier — you just lose another day.
That’s why discipline matters. Discipline is the bridge between the choice you make today and the result you’ll see later.
There’s a verse in Zechariah 4:10 that says, “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” God doesn’t need you to leap tall buildings in a single bound — He just needs you to take the first step, and then the next, and then the next.
So don’t get overwhelmed by the big picture. Just ask yourself:
What’s one small, good choice I can make today?
And then do it again tomorrow. And the day after that. Before you know it, you’ll look back and realize those little choices have built something big — your own Freedom Road.
Finding Peace in a Busy World
We live in a world that never stops talking. Phones ding, TVs blare, social media scrolls on forever. Everyone has an opinion, and most of them want you to react right now.
The problem is, all that noise can drown out the things that actually matter. It can make you restless, anxious, and distracted — even when nothing is “wrong” in your life.
I’ve been there. There were seasons when my calendar was packed, my phone was buzzing, and my mind was running full speed from the moment I woke up until I went to bed. And here’s the thing — some of it was good stuff. Family, work, church, community. But even good things can crowd out peace if you don’t make space for it.
Over the years, I’ve learned that peace doesn’t just show up one day because life slows down. Peace is something you have to create on purpose. And for me, that comes back to the three pillars of The Freedom Road:
Faith – Spending quiet time with God each day, even if it’s just a few minutes.
Discipline – Protecting my schedule and saying “no” when I need to.
Good Choices – Choosing what I let into my head, my home, and my heart.
If you’re feeling like the noise is winning, here are three simple ways to start creating more peace right now:
Start and end your day without your phone. Even 10–15 minutes of quiet at the bookends of your day makes a difference.
Say no to something this week. You don’t have to be everywhere for everyone all the time.
Get outside. A short walk or even sitting in the yard can help clear your head.
Peace isn’t the absence of activity — it’s the presence of the right things. And the only way to make room for the right things is to be intentional about what you let in.
You don’t have to escape the world to find peace. You just have to choose it — one small, consistent good choice at a time.
Lessons from Champions
🏀 Starting at Zero: Lessons from the NBA Champion OKC Thunder on the Road to Freedom
“Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.”
It’s an old saying, but if you watched the NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder win it all this year, you saw it in action — especially in the way Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plays the game.
Sure, he’s fast. You don’t make it to the NBA without speed. But the magic happens when he gets into the lane.
He slows down. He’s deliberate. He moves with control and balance — with great footwork as a base.
It’s like the whole game pauses for him.He’s not rushing. He’s not panicking.He’s letting the chaos swirl around him while he sticks to his fundamentals.And more often than not… he scores.
That’s Freedom Road stuff right there.
🛤️ Slow Is Smooth. Smooth Is Fast.
Life rewards discipline, not frenzy.Consistency, not chaos.
Most people are running around trying to do more, get more, be more — but they’re off balance. Always reacting. Always rushing.
Not Shai.Not the Thunder.And hopefully… not us either.
We’re building something different here. Freedom doesn’t come from doing everything. It comes from doing the right things — over and over, with good footwork and a solid base.
🏁 Starting at Zero
One of the Thunder’s mantras this year was: “Start at zero.”
No matter how big the last win was, or how tough the last loss felt — the next game always starts 0–0.
They don’t play the scoreboard. They play the moment.
That’s a mindset we all need. Whether you're building financial freedom, physical strength, or mental peace, you’ve got to wake up each day and start fresh.
Yesterday’s win? Doesn’t carry over. Yesterday’s mistake? Doesn’t define you. Today is 0–0.
Just lace up, step into the lane, and run the next play — with balance, discipline, and grace.
🔁 Freedom Comes from Fundamentals
Here on The Freedom Road, we talk a lot about big goals — retirement, independence, peace of mind. But the way we get there is small.
· We show up.
· We move with intention.
· We build on a strong foundation — just like great footwork in the paint.
· And we never let past success (or failure) distract us from the mission.
✝️ A Final Word
“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.”— Zechariah 4:10
Freedom isn’t flashy. It’s not a highlight reel. It’s quiet. Consistent. Disciplined.
Like Shai in the lane — moving slow, but always making progress.
So whatever you’re facing today, remember: It’s 0–0. The game just started. And you’ve got what it takes to win —one smooth step on The Freedom Road at a time.