Hi, I'm Steve

I'm a middle child. I'm a story teller. I'm a CFO with an MBA, but find meaning as a DAD. I love to play games, and I'm a Mormon.

About Me

I’m a proverbial middle child that grew up with 5 older brothers and 5 younger sisters. Because my parents had all the boys and then all the girls, I was the last in line for clothes, bikes, and other “boy” possessions, so I became very familiar with the term “hand-me-down”, but I learned about thrift and independence. Believe it or not, at 6’3” I am the shortest boy in our family, so in an effort to measure up and stand out I learned to tell stories and be creative .

I love to find the hidden wisdom from life's everyday experiences. There is so much to learn from our successes, but more importantly, from our short comings. Being able to identify and communicate these lessons in stories and analogies has helped me to engage and teach my children. I LOVE being a dad!

At work, I am the CFO and I also manage the Marketing and IT departments, but my greatest sense of accomplishment and purpose comes from being a husband and father. Being with my family is essential to my happiness. We love to play all types of games, but I especially enjoy board games that involve strategy. Despite my competitive nature, it is not the thrill of victory that I most seek, but the unstructured time playing games with my children. These moments give us a chance to talk and laugh and they help demonstrate that if something is important, we will make time for it in our lives.

I often tell people that "Happiness is a choice." My family makes me happy, so I choose to be with them.

Why I am a Mormon

I'm a Mormon because there is nothing more important to me than family. The relationships I have with my wife and children bring me the greatest joy in life and this understanding helps me realize how much God, who is Our Heavenly Father, must love me and everyone of His children. Feeling as I do about my family helps me realize how genuinely concerned God is about each of us.

I am certain God must ache when we struggle and rejoice when we succeed. I love to be with my family and appreciate all the moments we have together whether there is laughter, or tears, or worry, or harmony. There is a wonderful peace that comes from knowing that no matter what happens in life, I can feel secure so long as I have my family.

I'm a Mormon because my faith helps me be a better husband, a better father, a better citizen, a better man. Knowing that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me gives me strength and hope and provides me with the light and direction needed to make it through this life, and to help others on my journey.

Most of all, I am a Mormon because I have a deep and abiding faith in Christ. I recognize that I am an imperfect man and I need the teachings and example of Jesus to help me overcome my weaknesses.

Personal Stories

What has helped develop greater harmony in your home?

We have dinner together as often as possible and we have a scheduled night once a week to be together to play, to laugh, to learn, and to counsel together. Having a family council that occurs every week allows each family member to address any issues they may have in a calm and controlled forum.

It doesn't always prevent the bedlam that can erupt when you have multiple teenagers living under one roof, but it helps smooth out enough of the rough edges that we have more good days than bad and generally we are all good friends who like to hang out together.

But besides all that, we play a lot of games together. Families that laugh a lot are less likely to snap and be cranky...at least that is the hope.

How I live my faith

For me, faith is more than a coping mechanism that is referenced occasionally to address uncertainty or challenges. Rather, faith is an ever present compass that provides me with direction and a framework for making decisions in all aspects of my life. "Sunday" faith is not sufficient. It is only when a sure belief in God is embraced every single day, that it can provide a sure foundation for supporting us through both the challenges and the celebrations of life.

Too often we try and complicate faith. We make it mysterious and vague. In doing so, we lose much of the power that comes from living as Christ taught us to live. We don't just study faith, or preach about faith, we must live our faith in simple but consistent ways. That means taking action, following the example of Christ and seeking to help other people. Faith is not a product of our mind, it is a product of our actions. We discover and strengthen and demonstrate faith in the application of our beliefs.

Many years ago my wife and I took our children to see one of the battleships that is anchored at a nearby naval station. We had a wonderful time scurrying through the ship's labyrinth of rooms and compartments that made up the interior of the huge ship. After exploring the gun turrets that were located on an exterior upper deck, we prepared to descend to one of the lower decks to continue our tour. To ensure that I could assist my younger children down the 15 foot ladder, I descended first.

Just as my foot touched the thick steel of the lower deck I looked up to begin giving instructions to my younger children on how to climb down. To my surprise, before my second foot touched the lower deck, I heard my young son shout, "Catch me daddy!" as he launched himself from the upper deck. He had full faith that his father would catch him, demonstrated not by what he said, but by what he did. He didn't talk about trust, he showed it. He lived it.

Why is family so important to Mormons?

Steve answered...

There are not many things in the world that provide a constant source of support, strength, and joy, during changing and turbulent times, but the family can. Given that we are all part of God's family, we can receive hope and peace from our relationship with Him as our Father. It makes sense that while we are here on earth that God would provide us with a similar source of strength as we live through this mortal experience in preparation for eventually returning home to Our Heavenly Father.

Families provide us with opportunities to learn, to grow, to serve, and to become the people God wants us to be. There are times when family relationships result in struggles, but they can also bring happiness, joy, strength and security.

Aside from being an essential foundation to society (in terms of developing responsible citizens) families are an anchor to help us weather the storms of life, allowing us to more fully enjoy the blessings that can be found in a unified, loving home.
Show more of my answers Show less of my answers One Moment Please
Matt answered...

We believe that family relationships are the sources of life's greatest joys. We also believe that families can be together forever.

What is the priesthood?

Ethan answered...

I like to approach questions by looking at the words of things

"priest" has reference to either the concept of one who leads, one who is elder, or one who is holy I like to remember that the words 'holy' and 'whole' are linked by a common ancestry. When something is 'holy' it's essentially saying that it's complete, that it's healthy..

And "-hood" makes reference to the state of being, and not just any state of being but a state of being that's worthy or correct for it's placement. That is, that it's done properly.

So one could say the priesthood is leadership or a point of reference that's completely suited to the position in which it's been placed.

Another way to look at it is to say it's God's perfect order. That is, it's God's perfect arrangement.

In our Church we often give a definition of priesthood as being "the authority to act in God's name" and that's exactly what it means to be a part of God's perfect order. If God commands something to be done by you, and you do it, then you are acting under, and with that portion of God's authority that he's permitted you to exercise within his perfect order.

Just as with any instance where someone tries to act in the name of someone else there are bound to be those who try and do so falsely. That's why God has things ordered in such a way that one can know for certain if someone has His God's authority, or not.