Delhi native’s book relates scripture to daily life

Richard Bullock hopes the collection of stories in Joel’s Hope will help others apply scripture to their daily lives.

“It’s the first book I’ve written and probably the last,” Bullock said. “It started as something I did for my children and I hope other people can gain something from it as well.

Bullock grew up in north Louisiana, first on a farm near Delhi and later in the Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home in Monroe. After that, he entered the military, earned degree behavioral science and counseling and helped others through working with the Louisiana Youth Challenge program as well as serving at Boeuf River Baptist Church.

His book, Joel’s Hope, is a collection of true life stories; some tragic, others light hearted, but all will pull at your heart strings and help the read apply the scripture to current situation.

Bullock spent this first seven years of his life growing up on his family’s 80-acre farm near Delhi. His life changed when his mother left the family to return to Texas. His father, Joel Bullock, continued to try to make the farm work while taking care of three boys, ages three, five and seven. 

Two years later, Bullock’s mother sued for her equity in the farm’s value and his father lost the farm. 

The result was that Joel Bullock no longer felt he could adequately care for his three sons while trying to earn a living and he placed them in the children’s home.

“I was there from the age of seven until I was 18,” Richard Bullock said. “When I left, I found out that my father had sent a check every month of that 10 years to help pay for our expenses.”

Bullock’s father also visited his sons in the home and kept in touch in other ways.

Bullock began writing down stories from his childhood as a way to remember then and preserve those memories for his own family.

“Then when the lockdown started, I was retired from the military and had all this time on my hands,” he said.

Bullock began going through the stories, finding Biblical scriptures that fit each of the stories and adding devotionals.

“A mistake many people make is not looking for, or missing, the life application of each scripture,” he said. “The scriptures were applicable when originally inspired by God and are applicable today. We should simply allow the scriptures to ‘speak’ to us in a way that the application will be obvious. My hope is that the central thought of each devotional story in this book will help the reader do just that.”

Without or without the devotionals, the stories themselves will strike a chord with anyone who has grown up in north Louisiana. Bullock’s style is clear and the stories are entertaining as well as thought provoking.

Joel’s Hope can be ordered from Amazon.com or by visiting westbowpress.com