our story

Hello!  Thank you for checking us out.  I'm Dr. Don Owsley.  It's a pleasure to get aquainted with you and yours.  The picture above was taken in 2017.  My wife, Lois, is a professional violinist and music teacher.  She has taught piano, violin, and other string instruments for over forty years.  Many years ago, she created Personal Notes Music Studio where she currently teaches many students. 

Lois and I have been married since 1976.  Nine years into our marriage, God blessed us with our first child.  This sweet kid started our journey into parenthood.  To make sure we did this parent thing just right, we devoured dozens of child training books and anything else we could get our hands on.

Nine years later, we adopted our second child.  We did not know until she was ten-years-old that our precious one was suffering from Reactive Attachment Disorder.  Through that parenting experience, we learned far more than we ever wanted to know.  In fact, we learned, absorbed, and applied all kinds of things we never knew we needed to know.  Like many other dads and moms, you might say we had twenty years training at the University of Parenthood - very intensive training.  As a consequence, my wife and I had a significant paradigm shift about children and parenting.  You can read about it here.

In his wisdom and perhaps because of his humor, God yanked out the last chapters in our story.  Yes, he cut out the section where we were supposed to live happily ever after as retired empty nesters.  Instead, God inserted a very out-of-place chapter.  He gave us a grandson to raise as our boy.  So, we've joined 4.3 million other grandparents raising grandchildren.  The child rearing journey begins all over again but this time with post graduate degrees from U.P.   It is out of this I speak, teach, and write.

my story

my passion

what's your story?

share your story

It seems God has written my book with twenty-year chapters.  The first twenty years was about growing up.  While in high school, God led me to faith in Jesus Christ.  At eighteen, I joined the U.S. Army.

The next twenty years involved getting an associate degree while in the military, obtaining a bachelor's degree in history and social sciences (to become a teacher), and wrapping up that era with a Masters of Divinity and a biblical counseling certificate.  While earning those degrees, I worked in various jobs such as a radio DJ, in sales, one year as interim pastor, two years as an elementary public school teacher, and a year as a church youth director.  Before completing seminary, I had the privilege of starting a private Christian school and serving as a teacher and principal for four years.  

The end of seminary led me to plant a new church in Monterey County, California.  We were there for four years.  The next thirteen were filled with pastoring three different churches.  It was during that time I received a Doctorate in Ministry.  That training honed my skills as a pastor, pastoral counselor, and coach. 

Though I have over twenty-five years experience as a pastoral and biblical counselor, I am not a licensed clinical psychologist or therapist.

Whether serving children and families through youth groups, various schools, or churches, my passion has always remained the same: to teach, counsel, mentor, and serve them so they may flourish in life.  This passion has never diminished.  If anything, it has only intensified through the rigorous training received because of our special needs child and moreso now that we are raising our grandson.  So, how can you be served? 

It would be wonderful to hear your story.  You can email me to share something about your life in the message section below.  Or you might want to be part of the interactive private Facebook group, Relavate Families.  Relavate Families is a safe place for Christian parents and grandparents to discuss and share challenges, concerns, prayers, praises, and questions about family life.  Our ultimate purpose is to please God and elevate family relationships. We seek to do this through advice, encouragement, insights, and by offering hope from a biblical integration of faith and practice.  Of course, other sources that are viable and valuable can be applied.  Go to Relavate Families to join today.