Back of book photo
| Author Curtis Simonson, combat Veteran of the U.S. Army Infantry. |
| Riveting and Bold! A true story of my faith in Jesus Christ and my tour of duty in the Iraq war as an Infantry soldier. On the edge of your seat action! Go With God. |
| Go on an amazing journey as you follow the life of Curtis Simonson as a soldier through the war in Iraq, an encounter in the wild with a Grizzly bear, and the faith building challenges of his life. The stories are real, the adventure is breath taking, and the life changing impressions will have you looking at your own life in a new, joyfully daring way. A heart pounding-thrill ride! You can't put it down! |
| 384 pages Into the Distance "A Journey of Faith Through War and Beyond" |
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| God bless the troops who daily give their all for God and this great country! |
| Preface Embrace your God-given life. Rise up and look beyond the world’s comfortable ways. Reach out and grasp all the goodness that was prepared for you. Grow in all the blessings that surround you each and every day. Smile, laugh, be full of joy, and remember God is always watching. In John 10:10 (NIV) Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” We have all been given a free life to do with as we choose. Our choices in this life determine the reality we live in. God desires for us to prosper and grow not only in life, but also within ourselves. Grab hold of that choice and your God-given purpose. |
| A glimpse at the ending An hour or so went by as I enjoyed my mountain encased solitude. I gazed with wonder, like a child in a candy store, at the sights and delicate sounds of Wyoming wilderness and Yellowstone glory. Just as I felt like I could stay lost in this place forever, a loud cracking of a tree branch broke through the woods and echoed across the two lakes of De Lacy. I whipped my head in the direction of the sound, and froze. My breathing stuttered and slowly curled from my mouth. Every muscle in my body tensed with uncertain fear. I didn’t blink or even flinch; just sat motionless among the sounds that surrounded me. I couldn’t believe what I saw. Standing about thirty yards away, from the big tree I was resting on, was the biggest Grizzly bear I had ever seen; and it was staring right at me. |
| Chapter 1 The sun crept above the horizon sending a wave of heat across the dusty barren land. A gust of scorching breeze blew east across the sand covered valley and disappeared into the distance. A tiny scorpion ran from atop a rock into a narrow black hole, escaping the new day’s dawn. Thorn bushes were spread across the desert resting in their sun bathed solitude. A black snake crawled unnoticed toward a rock’s shade after a cool night’s hunt. An eleven year old boy walked bare foot along the hot dusty sand. A couple dozen sheep, some with their heads bowed to shield them from the bright sky, followed closely behind him. The boy squat closer to the earth and picked up a handful of fine grainy sand. He squeezed it in his palm as the sand seeped between his fingers. One of the sheep in the flock shook its soiled body sending a cloud of dust into the air. Two flies buzzed annoyingly around the boy’s face getting tastes of juicy sweat when they could. An AK47 rifle, with a brown butt stock and a black barrel, swung in the boy’s hand as he walked. His skin was dark brown with blotches of dirt stuck in various places. His short black hair waved gently against the wind. A long, thin scar ran from the boy’s forehead and down his cheek. A reminder of a burdened life and a troubled childhood. His face showed no emotion. Just a blank expression as he stared calmly into the distance. A few hundred yards away stood a stone, tan colored, palace. A black metal fence surrounded its perimeter. The smiling face of an evil dictator gazed from a tall concrete wall just outside the palace walls. |
| Chapter 6 “Everyone please close your eyes,” he spoke softly as the entire audience grew still. “Imagine that Jesus Christ himself is sitting next to you. Now imagine that God the almighty is standing on stage with me. Are your eyes still closed? Can you feel the presence among us? Can you see the Creator and his one and only son? Now imagine something is wrong. The building is engulfed in flames. Can you feel the heat? Can you see the fire? Imagine running to all the doors, but only to find out they are all locked from the outside. Look up to the windows. The windows are all too high to reach and climb out of. Now stop and look to the stage. Imagine me running and grabbing my children from the audience to try and save them. Can you see me pushing frantically through the crowd to get to my children? Now look at God standing perfectly still. Now look at Jesus Christ pleading to his father to save him from the flames. Now imagine God walking past Jesus Christ and swooping you up in his arms to protect you. Do you see; do you understand? God loves you so much he would save you from the fires before his one and only son. God sent his son Jesus Christ to be sacrificed on a cross and save you from your sins. I tell you tonight, standing here as a witness, this is how much God loves you.” I opened my eyes as a few tears dropped to the gymnasium floor. |
| Chapter 14 “Where did you get that,” asked one of the ladies from the back seat as she noticed my wooden cross tied with five fifty cord to the dashboard. “Oh, my father sent that cross to me. I like to use it as good luck.” I started the vehicle and drove slowly toward the front gate making sure the whole convoy was behind me. “You know, there’s a verse in the Bible that says; for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4) No one in the vehicle said anything as I spoke those words of encouragement. The convoy crept down some back roads of the country. I stuck my head out the window to cool my face in the breeze. I tilted my kevlar helmet back on my head to feed ventilation to my scalp. The ladies in the back were fanning themselves with their hands. Sergeant Jackson sat calmly amid his heat soaked irritation. I often wondered if he suffered any worse because of his black skin, but I couldn’t imagine it being any hotter than it already was. Bang, bang, bang! Three shots were fired. I ducked my head. “Where did that come from?” I frantically searched the fields on either side of the road. The ladies in the back started screaming and flipping out. The soldiers in the truck behind us were violently waving their hands for us to stop. I pulled over and jumped out. I took my M16 off safe and ran back to the truck behind us. I heard one of the ladies in my hummer scream; “where are you going?” I continued to run. |
Author Curtis Simonson, combat Veteran
of the U.S. Army Infantry.
of the U.S. Army Infantry.
| More than a dozen pages of photos in the center of the book! Enjoy! |