Doug Archives

Breakthrough Summer: When Disappointment Led to Discipleship

In the spring of 1976, Doug trained hard with his high school track team and planned an epic cross-country bike trip from Georgia to Maine. After winning a bronze medal at a rainy track meet, he fell seriously ill with mononucleosis, forcing him to miss the final weeks of school and cancel his dream bike tour. What began as devastating disappointment transformed into unexpected hope when his father gave him an old guitar, leading Doug to discover songwriting and a deeper faith during his recovery.

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My First Job: Delivering Newspapers

Biography, Doug / By Doug Vos

My memories of folding newsprint flyers with my brother at age 9 to managing my own Detroit News paper route at 13, delivering papers daily on my red Schwinn bike through rain, snow, and even a dog bite. The experience taught me invaluable lessons about responsibility, perseverance through discomfort, and the rewards of consistent hard work.

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Bike Riding For Fun and Necessity

Biography, Doug / By Doug Vos

In “Bike Riding For Fun and Necessity,” Doug Vos recalls relying on his 10-speed bike as primary transportation during his high school years in Dearborn, Michigan. He shares a painful accident where he crashed into a parked car’s window on a frigid ride to school, and a challenging 35-mile trip to a youth retreat in Ann Arbor.

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Summer Fun, Danger Signs, and Bad Decisions

Biography, Doug / By Doug Vos

In the summer of 1975, my friend Paul and I decided to ride our bikes to Camp Dearborn. This became one of the greatest adventures of that summer. However, it didn’t end very well. It might have been the summer of 1974. Time has softened the details, like faded blue jeans, washed too many times…

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Bonanza Steakhouse

Biography, Doug / By Doug Vos

Doug Vos recounts his teenage summer job as a dishwasher at a Dearborn Heights Bonanza Steakhouse in 1975, where he worked in sweltering conditions washing dishes, preparing salad bar lettuce, and learning to “puff up” baked potatoes while navigating the fast-paced kitchen environment. The job evolved when the cigar-smoking manager entrusted 16-year-old Vos with keys to open the restaurant early for cleaning duties, highlighting both the manager’s desperation for reliable help and Vos’s unexpected responsibility despite his admitted lack of cleaning expertise.

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The Day An Ice-Cream Man Saved My Life

Biography, Doug / By Doug Vos

In 1975, Doug Vos and his friend Danny Wassenaar were attacked by four young men while cycling through an unfamiliar Detroit neighborhood, with one assailant wielding a table leg. Doug used his bike as a shield and Danny jumped in with a daring karate kick, but the situation remained dire until an ice-cream man intervened, stopping the attack with support from neighbors. The timely arrival of the ice-cream man, coupled with Danny’s bravery, allowed Doug to escape shaken but grateful, reflecting on the incident as a moment of divine protection and grace.

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Still Singing After All These Years

Doug, Music / By Doug Vos

I’ve been writing music for over 28 years, and I’m finally getting around to publishing a few of my songs. I played guitar and sang a few songs I wrote at my wedding, back in 1980. Once in a while I play my guitar at someone else’s wedding — although mostly my daughters play their

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