Following the Trail began as an attempt to make sense of a lifetime of questions. Questions about faith, biology, identity, suffering, and compassion. It isn’t a book of final answers. It’s a record of the trail that I followed, often one that I had to break myself, and the trail markers that have helped me along the way.
Why I wrote Following The Trail
For many years, I believed I was the only person walking the trail I was on.
I spent decades asking questions about biology, faith, identity, suffering, and what it means to live honestly while still holding onto my Christian faith. Some of those questions came from my own life. Others came from caring for thousands of patients as an ER, ICU, and Long-Term Care RN. Many came from simply listening to people whose stories didn’t fit neatly into the boxes we often try to place people into.
Over time, I discovered something unexpected. The deeper I studied both science and faith, the less I saw them as enemies. Instead, they became two different ways of exploring the same reality. Each answered questions the other could not, and together they helped understand both myself and the people around me with greater compassion and love.
I wrote Following the Trail because I realized I couldn’t be the only person searching for those answers. If my journey could leave behind a few trail markers for someone else, then everything I had walked through would have served a purpose.
The book isn’t intended to tell readers what they must believe. It’s an invitation to walk alongside me for a while, to ask difficult questions without fear, and to discover that faith, science, and compassion don’t have to compete with one another.