Welcome to GRACE!

A couple of years ago I  attended a Presbyterian retreat known as `Cursillo' where I heard the word `Grace' used repeatedly day after day in many different ways and contexts.  The word started to pound in my head and I realized I didn't really know what the word meant as it was being used.  Further, no one thought to explain what `Grace' really means in a religious sense.  One speaker even made the statement that "God gave us Grace" and I asked myself  `What's he talking about?".  The meaning of the word really started to get to me and I began asking friends for a definition, but no one I asked could give me a straight answer.  I had never thought about it much before, even though I go to `Grace' church and one of the most used  `Thank you God' statements in existence, which I had heard dozens of times,  is "There, but for the GRACE of God, go I". 

This was becoming an obsession, so the minute I got home I looked up the word `Grace' in Webster.  Mr. Webster's dictionary has 10 different definitions of the word, the first being "Apparently effortless charm or beauty of movement, form, or proportion".  I of course know what `graceful' means, so I was off to a decent start.  I kept reading until I got to #6 that said "Temporary immunity or exemption".  Still not there.  Then #7 said "Divine Love and Protection bestowed on Human Beings".  Now I was really getting somewhere!   #8 said  "A short prayer of blessing or thanksgiving said before a meal".  This is nice but I'm cooling off.  I figure it's got to be #7 - and things start to fit!!  I'm glad I go to a church whose name implies `divine love and protection given to us' by our creator.    

To introduce myself, I'm Karl Zick from Gary, West (by God) Virginia.  I attended college (heh!) at the Virginia Military Institute, spent 20 years as a telecommunications officer in Uncle Sam's  USAF, spent another 10 years as an aerospace engineer in California, and the last 10 years playing with toys as a computing consultant.  After all the thrashing around, I feel that God has shown me the best use I can make of the talents he has given me in computing, and has brought me here to Corpus Christi (aka: `Body of Christ') Texas to do the most I can with these gifts.  Also, I try to get out in the Lord's Gulf and catch fish whenever I can.

I dedicate this site to my wonderful church and the people in it, to my talented wife Mollie, and to my remarkable daughter Wendy who has been a spiritual inspiration to me many times over the years. I hope you enjoy (and learn from) what I have tried to do here - and I welcome any comments.

Your friend in Christ - and devoted webmaster,

Go with Grace!

Karl