Honest resources and conversations for people figuring out how to live well in a complicated life.
What if you didn’t have to wait for life to get easier in order to live well?
Most Christians have been taught that the wilderness is something to escape—a hard season to endure until "real life" begins again. But what if this life—caught between rescue and being fully restored—is the wilderness?
The Wilderness Way challenges the comfortable narratives we've been sold about faith and following Jesus. It's not a book about fixing your life or escaping hard places. It's an invitation to discover that flourishing is still possible here—without pretending, without rushing resolution, and without waiting for the desert to end.
Written for people who feel spiritually homeless, disillusioned, or exhausted by performative faith, this book offers companionship over clichés and presence over platitudes. It insists the wilderness isn't just a place of survival—it's where beauty breaks through, grace grows deep roots, and God does what only He can do.
You are not forgotten. You are not disqualified. You are not alone.
-
![Brad Sarian: Lead Pastor, Restored Church LA]()
Brad Sarian: Lead Pastor, Restored LA
Whether you're in a difficult wilderness season or facing the ordinary struggles of life in a broken world, The Wilderness Is the Way gently reorients your heart toward the freedom and peace found in Jesus. Dustin has a unique gift for making readers feel seen and understood during what is often a painful and lonely time. As a pastor who regularly sits with people wrestling through difficult seasons of life, I found this book to be both compelling and genuinely helpful.
-
![Linsie Goza-Vike: Founder, Marsha's Heart]()
Linsie Goza-Vike: Founder, Marsha’s Heart
Dustin has found peace, rest, joy, and strength in the midst of pain—because he's wrestled with the coexistence of joy and sorrow. In The Wilderness Way, he shepherds those of us who've experienced trauma and trials toward the promises of Scripture and an understanding of God's presence. Dustin speaks authentically because he's walked through the rawness of life—both personally and with others, including myself. He helps us see God's goodness in our hardest times and leads us to walk with an eternal perspective that gives hope now and for the future. I'm passing his book out like candy!
-
![Kiley Parish: Programming Director, Selah Creek]()
Kiley Parish: Programming Director, Selah Creek
Dustin’s The Wilderness Way gives language to the hard spaces and broken parts we encounter daily, not only in the lives of our clients but also within our own staff. In a workplace shaped by grief, growth, and healing, this book invites us to breathe a sigh of relief and gently shift our perspective on the wilderness journeys we all walk. It’s a compassionate and deeply relatable resource that we will return to again and again.
Hi, I'm Dustin. I write, teach, and walk alongside people who are trying to live well in a complicated life.
I've spent more than twenty-five years in church leadership, and along the way I've learned that life and faith rarely move in straight lines. We're formed slowly, often in tension, and usually in places we didn't expect or choose.
I've been the burned-out pastor, the confused leader, the one questioning whether I could keep going. Now, through writing, teaching, and coaching, I walk with people through the messy middle—the space between where we are and where we hope to be. Because I believe we can flourish and make an impact even in the hard seasons.
You don't have to have it figured out to be here. I'm still learning too.
ABOUT ME
PERSONAL COACHING & CARE FOR MINISTRY LEADERS
Working in ministry carries real weight — much of it unseen. It can start to feel like a game of whack-a-mole: you address one challenge and another pops up — personal, relational, financial, organizational — often without pause.
I’ve been there. After 25+ years in vocational ministry across various roles and churches, I know what it’s like to feel confused, overwhelmed, frustrated, isolated, and trying to figure out how to not just manage it, but flourish in it.
I know what it’s like to carry weight no one else sees.
Over time, I learned that what I needed most wasn’t more answers or better strategies. I needed a safe, honest space to slow down, tell the truth, and pay attention to what was actually happening in me and around me.
That’s the posture I bring to ministry coaching. I approach it as a friend and companion, not an expert. This isn’t just about fixing problems. It’s about creating space to tell the truth, name blind spots, and tend to your whole life — spiritual, emotional, relational, and organizational — because leadership in ministry doesn’t fit into neat categories.
The goal is faithfulness that doesn’t come at the expense of your relationship with God, your family, or yourself.
TEACHING
I’ve been teaching for over two decades—first as a worship leader who couldn’t stay out of the Scriptures, and eventually as a primary communicator in the churches we planted and pastored. Whether preaching week to week or shaping a teaching team, I’ve always loved helping people encounter the truth of Scripture in ways that are honest, clear, and rooted in real life.
OTHER WRITINGS
OUR FAMILY
My wife Stacy and I met in our church college group in California and have been married for 24 years. We have three children, Riley (23), Keegan (19), and Caylee (14).