The Story Behind Pieris Inspirations

About the Author

Stan Fleming

My journey in faith began in Biloxi, MS, where I was raised in a faith-focused home, attending church Sunday mornings and nights and Wednesday nights. We learned the stories of the Bible in Sunday School, Training Union, Vacation Bible School, and various kids’ groups and worship experiences. In those formative years, I learned the basics, embraced the teachings, memorized some verses, and stepped forth with a very surface understanding of what faith truly was.

The almost five decades that followed included learning and growth both personally and professionally. On the personal side, Denise and I got married soon after my graduation from the Air Force Academy, and she’s been my partner in life ever since, through numerous moves, the ups and downs of my careers, and the joy and sorrow of life overall. What a blessing it’s been to have her right here with me through it all. We have three children and eight grandchildren now, all wonderful blessings to us both.

On the professional side, my first focus was the Air Force, and I retired after 22 years of service, both active and reserve. The Air Force was a phenomenal training ground for me, giving me countless opportunities to step into very challenging situations with tremendously talented team members to create very positive mission outcomes. What a blessing it was to serve our country and be part of such a tremendous mission environment.

After leaving active duty, I transitioned into the high stress (but also high impact) environment of innovative technology companies, adding my energy to the passion and brilliance of those company founders and helping them deliver beyond expectations as much as possible. The years in startup companies were fraught with challenge and risk, both professionally and personally, and yet, they were probably the most important in my life. I can look back now and see how many of the elements of faith that I focus on today were things that I better understand after having gone through the struggles and successes of those small company years.

I’ve spent almost two decades since then being part of teams delivering positive economic outcomes for indigenous-owned businesses worldwide. What a blessing it has been to be mission-focused for those I was privileged to serve, as together we focused on generating income to be used to better the lives of our indigenous owners. It was during these years that I became convinced that faith precedes science in business, and that belief in exceptional outcomes starts with faith that it can happen and then resilience and perseverance as the needed steps are taken to deliver beyond expectations. What a blessing to do that in most cases.

As I look back now, In both my personal and professional life, I practiced faith, knowing the things I should be doing, doing some of those things, doing many things I should not have been doing, seeking forgiveness for those things, seeing evidence of God’s faithfulness even though I wasn’t always faithful to Him, and building a base of experiences in my faith that all have meaning for me now.

Things began to change during my global travels many years ago. In those quiet times when I was alone, I started filling those moments with devotionals and audio sermons, all of which increased my curiosity about elements of faith. It was during that time when a comment in a sermon from my Pastor hit me hard – “know God more” – and then continuous discussions with my dad further fueled my desire to get under the surface and dig deeper into faith, to make it simpler so I could better understand, but also to make it something that wasn’t just practiced in my life, but something that was my life.

I’m thankful to countless family members and friends who have spent time sharing with me as I’ve explored various aspects of faith. I’ve learned from their journeys, and I’m better in my purposeful pursuits of simplifying faith because of all of them.

Which leads me to today, where a simple act of sharing the inspirations that I was receiving in my journey to know God more that started during COVID became a focus on writing poems to capture things in a creative and artistic way.

I don’t consider myself a poet, but I do think of myself as a person who enjoys sharing with others those things that the Lord places on my heart.

I pray that as you read my poems that You too can see the simplicity of faith and the faithfulness of our Lord.