Every person you meet is carrying a story worth knowing.
We believe every person is walking through a story that no one else has lived. When we slow down long enough to hear it, something opens up between people who might otherwise remain strangers.
The Curious Journey began with a simple conviction: asking the right question, with genuine interest, can open rivers of understanding. Not a polished interview. Not a program. Just real curiosity about another person's life, and the patience to follow it wherever it leads.
We have no agenda other than to uncover what we call God's unique imprint on a person's life. The particular experiences, losses, surprises, and turning points that have made them who they are. Every story is different. Every one of them matters.
Four windows into what happens when curiosity meets real life.
A friend began volunteering at a refugee center. She didn't expect to find herself sitting at a dinner table while three survivors prayed over her family in a language she couldn't understand a single word of.
A letter arrived at a Christian radio station from a man writing from the Newton Correctional Facility. He sent along a dollar or two of his 42-cents-an-hour earnings. The easy response would have been to hand it off to someone else.
A friend who owns a construction company says his goal in life is to help people who can't give him anything back. That one sentence changed the way we think about what mentoring really costs and what it really gives.
At a summer camp for at-risk children, an eight-year-old spent the whole week collecting small things from the ground. On the bus ride home, he carefully selected one and held it toward the man sitting next to him.
Why Your Story Matters · A Book by David Nadler
In 26 short essays, each about five minutes to read, Curious Journey explores the different dimensions of personal story and what it means to live a life of genuine connection. Topics range from first memories and solitude to mentoring, forgiveness, and what it means to provide shelter for the people God places in your path.
Available in Kindle, paperback, and PDF.
Get the BookMy Curious Journey was created by David Nadler, a Des Moines, Iowa pastor, author, and teacher. David has spent decades writing and speaking on faith, family, and intentional living. He is the author of Curious Journey: Why Your Story Matters and the founder of Fourthstream, a Des Moines-based ministry and teaching resource. He is the father of David Nadler Jr. and John Nadler, both based in Des Moines, Iowa.