But his family always came first. He resides in Katy, Texas, with LaDawn, his wife of 54 years. Together, they have four daughters, eleven grandchildren, and one great-grandson.

Thom has this to say about writing Joseph: Step-Father:

Once a week at 6:00 in the morning, I host a group of 14 friends at my office. We call it Men’s Friday Muse, which is exactly what it is—we enjoy kolaches and donuts, and we muse. It’s a great place to bring unanswered questions.

So one day, I decided to stump them by asking about a story we all knew well: “The Magi gave Jesus gold, frankincense, and myrrh. What happened to those gifts?”

None of us had ever considered the question.

The answer is unknown and unknowable. But as I thought about it, I knew one thing: Joseph did not sell the gifts or take them for himself. That would be stealing from Jesus. As I pondered Joseph more deeply, a novel began to form in me.

Joseph has always been one of my heroes. While we don’t know much about him from history or the Bible, we do know one thing: the book of Matthew calls him “a righteous man” (Mt. 1:19).

If you were to ask how I know anything else I’ve written in this book, my answer would be simple: “This is a novel. It’s not intended to be the truth that folks can count on.”

In that case, why did I write Joseph? For the fun of it. Writing this book gave me pleasure. I didn’t do it for money or recognition. It was something I wanted to do for myself.

I found myself asking more and more questions:

“Did Joseph love Mary, I mean really love?”

“How did Joseph, Mary, and Jesus get to Egypt?”

“How difficult was it for Joseph to raise a perfect Child?”

“Did Joseph’s other children know Jesus was the Messiah?”

And, of course, the original puzzler: “What happened to the gold, frankincense, and myrrh?”

This side of eternity, we don’t have answers to any of these questions. And we don’t have to. But I hope that as you read the book, you enjoy pondering them just as much as I have.