From the Ballfield to the Pulpit: The Life Story of Steve Karraker

From the Ballfield to the Pulpit: The Life Story of Steve KarrakerBorn in 1950 in a small southern Illinois town, Steve Karraker grew up with little and built a life with everything he had. This autobiography traces his journey from a boy on the dirt fields of Dongola to a man who spent decades coaching, teaching, and leading in schools, churches, and communities across southern Illinois and beyond.Steve served in the United States Navy, spent thirty years as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in rural Illinois schools, and eventually answered a call to preach the Gospel. Through every move and every transition, one thing never changed: his faith that God was working in it all.This is a book about showing up. It is about a man who buried his father at fifteen and never lost his trust in his Heavenly Father. It is about a New York girl who married a country boy and built a life alongside him for more than fifty years. It is about small gyms, baseball diamonds, school hallways, and Sunday morning pulpits where ordinary faithfulness made an extraordinary impact.Romans 8:28 runs through every chapter. Steve Karraker has lived it.Readers who enjoy faith-based memoirs, small-town American life, and stories of quiet perseverance will find a man worth knowing in these pages. Read more