Rick

My personal Christian experience is as long as my life, as I was raised by parents whose dedication to serving God through Christ was as apparent as the nose on one’s face. Even as a teenager, while most were in a rebellious stage of life, I always had a drive towards God and chose to dedicate my life to walking in Jesus’ footsteps at the age of 16. It was the most major decision of my life, and as my dad always says of his own Christian walk, “I never looked back.”

I married my best friend, Tricia, the day before my 22nd birthday. Over the last 40+ years, we have become parents to three now amazing adults: Tim, our oldest, serving in the Coast Guard; Emily, our oldest daughter, is an APRN and works with geriatric patients, Amy, our youngest, is the director of a daycare. We are blessed with five grandchildren, Domenic the teenager, Adrianna and Autumn the elementary schoolers and Logan and Liana the preschoolers. These kids are among my favorite pastimes and topics of conversation. I am happy to show you a picture or two…or three or four…

Even though I love coffee, I can only drink decaf. Caffeinated coffee messes up my brain and makes me talk like Alvin the Chipmunk. I love chocolate in any form, but dark chocolate is by far the best – and because studies have shown that it is good for you, I say, bring it on! I love the New York Giants and I am an avid New York Yankees fan. I love going to a game or two each year with my family. Yankee Stadium is an awesome place. And for the record, I was a Lord of the Rings fanatic long before the movies came out. I read the books many, many times throughout my teenage years. They inspired me to engage in the fight of good against evil.

The flexibility of running my own business has really helped with the development of Christian Questions. Volunteering (yes, we are all volunteers here!) as host of CQ has been the most significant and life-changing privilege of my entire Christian life. Through no thought or action of my own, this opportunity opened up over 20 years ago. I happened (by the grace and overruling of God) to be in the right place at the right time to participate. I LOVE to share the gospel message. I LOVE to study each week to prepare. I LOVE to engage with our listeners and I LOVE to work with the 35+ other volunteers in this weekly effort to spread the hope and love of Christ. Basically, I LOVE the entire CQ experience!

One of my greatest heroes is the Apostle Paul. His undying devotion to the Gospel, his deep desire to truly serve God through Jesus at any expense, and his “never stop moving forward” discipline truly inspire me to always keep working. Matthew 6:33 has become a theme for my life:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.”

Matthew 6:33

It is my deepest desire to follow Paul as he followed Christ and to bring the “good tidings of great joy” to any who will listen.