Happily, jokingly - and ignorantly, they clambered aboard their magic-carpet. And the world opened like a flower to offer its vast invitation to adventure and success. It is a time of the Vietnam War and the Swinging Sixties, both of which seems to have passed them by. They leave - on their beloved Champ, a Second World War jeep, and take their little world with them, while the big one can only look on and smile. Language and cultures might change, an innocent foolishness might survive, but the big, bad, beautiful world is round for a reason, and they will have to stumble and blunder abroad as they had stumbled and blundered at home. To those who like the idea of escape, to those who believe, somehow, that `chance` might bring some of those things that more rational, more considered ways of believing and behaving fail to, this little story is dedicated.

The title: "Stumbling in Darkness ~ Separated from God (A journey to the Light) ...is a life summarized. May this book inspire you to seek the LORD God, read His Wordthe Holy Bible, and get to know Him as He reveals Himself to you through the Spirit in Jesus Christ. It is Gods will for all of us to know Him and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. In both Testaments God says, I will be their God and they will be My children. (Lev 26:12) - (Rev 21:7) this statement is repeated many times. God desires to have a relationship with each one of us. Hes long suffering patiently waiting for us to come to Him. However, He has a set year, month, day and time when the waiting ends. Take an honest look at yourself and ask do you know the love of God? Do you know Jesus Christ personally? Is your name written in The Book of Life? Are you a slave to addictions, lost in sinful desires? Will you be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven? Do you put everyone and everything before and above God? We are living in what Scripture calls "the last days" the end of life as we know it. Though it is a world without endas we know itis becoming a memory.

In 1989 just as tourism was beginning in Costa Rica, the author moved to the tropics with his wife and two young daughters. This is the saga of their often humorous adventures in their new found paradise. The Costa Rican saying pura vida "pure life" summed up their hopes, but they soon learned that there's no such thing as heaven on earth. This is a must read for those contemplating dropping out to live on a tropical beach. Steve and Mary Lou now live in Montana and maintain their home in Manuel Antonio as a vacation rental, visiting as tourists when they can.

Stumbling Through Paradise: A Feast of Mercy for Manuel del Mundo follows the journey of one Filipino family, who leave everything behind in order to build a new life for themselves in Canada, and their struggle to find their way. Blocked from finding work in their respective fields despite their qualifications and skills, they must decide between pride and practicality, survival and surrender. The choices and concessions they make will impact their lives, and the lives of their children, in countless ways. And in the end, it will be up to the second and third generations to offer redemption, and help create the paradise their parents had hoped to find. A story of determination and hope, Stumbling Through Paradise showcases the indomitable spirit of those willing to risk everything for the chance of a brighter future, and captures with great clarity, the bonds of familial love and loyalty, which may bend but never truly break.

From cover - "In 1989 just as tourism was beginning in Costa Rica, the author moved to the tropics with his wife and two young daughters. This is the saga of their often humourous adventures in their new found paradise."

This rhetorical study of the persuasive practice of English Puritan preachers and writers demonstrates how they appeal to both reason and imagination in order to persuade their hearers and readers towards conversion, assurance of salvation and godly living. Examining works from a diverse range of preacher-writers such as William Perkins, Richard Sibbes, Richard Baxter and John Bunyan, this book maps out continuities and contrasts in the theory and practice of persuasion. Tracing the emergence of Puritan allegory as an alternative, imaginative mode of rhetoric, it sheds new light on the paradoxical question of how allegories such as John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress came to be among the most significant contributions of Puritanism to the English literary canon, despite the suspicions of allegory and imagination that were endemic in Puritan culture. Concluding with reflections on how Milton deploys similar strategies to persuade his readers towards his idiosyncratic brand of godly faith, this book makes an original contribution to current scholarly conversations around the textual culture of Puritanism, the history of rhetoric, and the rhetorical character of theology.