Roderick Smith

Rod Smith has lived a life of adventure since he was a child. Many of the illustrations he uses throughout his writing are drawn from his early experiences growing up on a farm near Flint, Michigan. His life has been a collage of grand victories and devastating defeats, and God has used each of these experiences to shape him into the man he is today.

Because of his multi-faceted experiences, Rod is able to look at life from many perspectives. As a youngster, he worked on the farm, feeding the chickens and gathering their eggs, feeding and caring for the horses and ponies and sheep, and hoeing several acres of strawberries. He began working the fields with tractors and implements when he was ten years old. He has worked in fast food restaurants, was a UAW member when he worked for Buick, and worked his way through college and grad school as an administrative assistant and bottle washer.

Rod dropped out of college three times. He changed his major three times, and eventually became a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice (PhD from Purdue University). He has been a Six Sigma consultant and is currently working in commercial real estate brokerage and development in Albuquerque.

Rod lives in New Mexico with his wife Rose. Together they share six children, along with their children’s mates, and twelve grandchildren—the “dynamic dozen.” And they enjoy hiking and camping in the nearby mountains, a place they call their backyard.

Rod and Rose are “functionally obsessed” with living their lives in the flow of God’s Spirit, daily allowing him to strip away anything that hinders the wonder of God’s splendor in their journey through life. They are leaders in the Living Free ministry at Sagebrush Community Church in Albuquerque. Sagebrush started in 1999 with 120 people and has grown to over 12,000, with six campuses. Living Free was launched early in 2011 and is now attended by 700 people every Thursday evening. Rod and Rose facilitate a variety of groups, such as Changes that Heal, Anger to Intimacy, and Fathered by God. Rod is also a speaker at Living Free.