In the News

Never had one. I'm a full time Mechanical Technician at Group 14 Technologies in Moses Lake, Washington. Over a decade in hands on maintenance, fabrication, and keeping operations running safely. That's my career and that's where my professional identity lives. My first real step into writing was just starting my own blog. No editor, no paycheck, no press badge. Just me sitting down and deciding I had something worth saying about faith, fatherhood, and life in Central Washington and that I was going to say it honestly. That first post on jasondavidnewton.com was my first job as a writer in any sense of the word. Nobody assigned it to me. Nobody was waiting on it. I just wrote it because it was true and I figured if it helped one other working dad somewhere feel less alone then it was worth the time it took to put it together. That's still pretty much the job description.

Yeah, a few times as a kid. My grandpa had an old manual typewriter sitting in the garage, one of those heavy clunky Underwood models from the 60s or 70s, and I remember messing around on it and thinking it was the coolest thing. The clack clack of the keys, having to actually pound them to get a good impression on the page. No backspace, no delete, no autocorrect. Just pure commitment to every single letter. There's something honest about that. You had to think before you typed because fixing a mistake meant starting over or breaking out the Wite-Out. That's a different relationship with words than we have now. These days I'm on a laptop or my phone writing reflections on faith, fatherhood, and life in Moses Lake, Washington. The tools are a lot faster and a lot more forgiving. But that old typewriter in my grandpa's garage taught me something I still carry: think before you commit to something. Whether that's a sentence on a page or a repair decision on the floor at Group 14 Technologies, slow down and get it right the first time. My grandpa would probably get a kick out of knowing that thing left a mark on me.

News breaks on X, TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Threads now. By the time it hits TV or a newspaper somebody already posted the video from their phone twenty minutes ago. That's just the reality we live in. The barrier to entry is basically gone. Anyone with a smartphone and something worth saying is a citizen journalist whether they call themselves that or not. That's mostly a good thing. Voices that never would have made it past a newsroom gatekeeper are getting heard now. The downside is obvious though: speed beats accuracy constantly. Something goes viral before anyone verifies it and by the time the correction comes out nobody sees it. For me personally social media changed how I think about sharing my own story. I'm a Mechanical Technician in Moses Lake, Washington. I'm not a reporter. But I can post about faith, fatherhood, and life in the Pacific Northwest and reach people who actually needed to hear exactly that. That wouldn't have been possible fifteen years ago. The tools are there. What you do with them is on you. Integrity still counts even when nobody is fact checking you.

Clark Kent. Not Superman, Clark Kent. Everyone focuses on the cape but I've always been more interested in the guy who shows up to the Daily Planet every morning, does the work, keeps his head down, and doesn't need the credit. He's got more going on than anyone around him knows and he's not out here broadcasting it. He just does the right thing consistently and quietly and goes home. That resonates with me more than I expected it to honestly. I'm a Mechanical Technician in Moses Lake, Washington. I show up to Group 14 Technologies, I fix what needs fixing, I keep things running safely, and then I go home and try to be a present dad and a man of actual faith. Nobody's handing out awards for that. That's just the job. Clark Kent is the guy who understood that showing up with integrity every single day matters more than the spotlight. Colossians 3:23 in a cape basically. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart. He did that as a reporter and he did that as Superman and he never seemed to think one was more important than the other.

At its core I think being a journalist means being a truthful witness to real life. It's not about chasing headlines or farming clicks. It's about showing up with integrity, paying attention, and sharing what actually happens so other people can understand something better, learn something useful, or just feel a little less alone in what they're going through. Whether that's a reporter in a newsroom or a guy in Moses Lake, Washington writing honest reflections on a personal blog, the heart of it is the same. Seek truth, treat people with respect, and don't twist reality just to get attention. For me that looks like documenting everyday moments. Long shifts at Group 14 Technologies. Coming home tired and choosing to be present for my son anyway. Living out faith at Grace Harvest Church and trying to mean it on a Tuesday not just a Sunday. I try to write about all of it with the same diligence I bring to fixing equipment at work. Carefully, honestly, and with everything I've got. Colossians 3:23 applies in the shop and at the keyboard.

#Adulting. I know it's not breaking news but that one cracks me up every time because it's so accurate. Like congratulations you paid a bill on time, here's your hashtag. We're all just out here figuring it out and pretending we know what we're doing. As a dad and a full time Mechanical Technician in Moses Lake, Washington I feel that one in my bones on a daily basis. Some days adulting looks like keeping the equipment running at Group 14 and getting Ryker to story time at the Moses Lake Public Library on time. Other days it's just making sure there's food in the house and everyone goes to bed at a reasonable hour. The fact that an entire generation turned "being a functional adult" into a hashtag tells you everything you need to know about how overwhelming modern life feels sometimes. At least we're all laughing about it together.

Keep it real and keep it local. That's pretty much it. I'm a Mechanical Technician in Moses Lake, Washington. I write about faith, fatherhood, blue collar work, and life in the Pacific Northwest. So if you're pitching me something that connects to any of that I'm already interested. Manufacturing, trades, working families in Central Washington, community life in small towns, faith in everyday life. Those are my lanes. Be specific. Tell me why you thought of me specifically. If you read something I wrote and it made you think I'd be a good fit for what you're working on, say that. Keep it short. I'm not sitting at a desk all day. I'm in the shop, I'm with my son, I'm living the life I write about. A three paragraph pitch that gets to the point beats a six paragraph pitch that buries it every time. And don't pitch me stuff that has nothing to do with my world. If you've got a story about working families, the trades, faith in ordinary life, or what it actually looks like to build something real in a small town in the Pacific Northwest, I want to hear it.

On the job at Group 14 Technologies it's mostly physical and hands on. Precision hand tools, torque wrenches, multimeters, calipers, micrometers. For predictive maintenance I use an infrared thermography camera, vibration analyzers, ultrasonic leak detectors, and pressure gauges. Knowing what's about to fail before it fails is half the job. On the software side I work out of a CMMS for work orders and preventive maintenance schedules. Microsoft Excel for quick data tracking and shift reports. AutoCAD or similar when I'm reading blueprints. Safety gear is always first. For the blog side over at jasondavidnewton.com I keep it simple. Static HTML editing, Canva when I need a graphic, and honestly my phone camera does most of the heavy lifting for photography. I'm not running some elaborate content studio. It's just a guy in Moses Lake documenting real life with whatever is in his pocket. Colossians 3:23 applies in the shop and at the keyboard. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart. That's the standard I try to hold myself to across the board.

My favorite social network is X (@JasonDNewton). It's fast, direct, and lets me share quick thoughts on faith, fatherhood, work life as a technician in Moses Lake, or PNW adventures without a lot of fluff. I love seeing real conversations, connecting with local folks in Central Washington, and staying updated on things that matter to me from Grace Harvest Church events to community news. That said, Instagram (@jasondavidnewton) is a close second for posting photos of family hikes, sunsets, and gallery moments. LinkedIn is my go-to for the professional side, but X feels most like everyday me.

Honestly anyone who wants a real unfiltered look at fatherhood, faith, and what it means to work hard in the Pacific Northwest. Working dads in the trades who are trying to figure out how to be present for their kids after a long shift. Christian men who are newer to their faith and still figuring out what living it out actually looks like day to day. Guys in manufacturing and industrial work who don't see themselves represented much in the content they scroll past. Families in small towns like Moses Lake who are proud of where they live and tired of feeling like their story doesn't count because it didn't happen in a big city. If you've ever come home with grease under your nails and still got down on the floor to play with your kid, I'm writing for you. If you've ever sat in church on a Sunday and wondered how to carry that into a Monday morning shift, I'm writing for you. If you love the Pacific Northwest not for the aesthetic but because it's actually home, I'm writing for you.

I didn't set out to become a journalist. I'm a Mechanical Technician at Group 14 Technologies in Moses Lake, Washington. Over 10 years in hands on maintenance, fabrication, and team leadership. That's my career and I love it. I started writing because I wanted to document what actually matters in my everyday life. Faith, fatherhood, blue collar work, raising Ryker in Moses Lake, finding meaning in the Pacific Northwest. Nobody handed me a press credential or a beat. I just had something real to say and I figured out how to say it. There was a season after I came to faith in January 2024 where I kept having thoughts and experiences that felt worth capturing. Not because I thought I was a writer but because I didn't want to forget them and I had a feeling other working dads in similar situations might relate. I think a lot of the most honest writing happening right now is coming from people who never called themselves journalists. People who just lived something real and decided to share it straight. No editor, no angle, no agenda. Just truth from a specific life in a specific place.

Nope. I was not the newspaper kid in high school. I was more likely to be found in the shop, on the field, or figuring out what was wrong with my 1993 Toyota pickup than writing for the school paper. Writing didn't really become a thing for me until way later in life. I came to faith in January 2024 and somewhere in that process I started feeling like I had something worth saying. Not because I had journalism training or a communications degree but because I was living a real life in Moses Lake, Washington and figured there were other working dads and guys in the trades who might relate to it. So no high school newspaper. No journalism classes. Just a Mechanical Technician with a wrench in one hand and eventually a keyboard in the other trying to document faith, fatherhood, and life in the Pacific Northwest as honestly as he can.

The story I'm most proud of is a Medium post I wrote called "Being a Christian Dad in Moses Lake: Balancing Faith, Family, and a Mechanical Tech Life." It came out of a real season. Long shifts at Group 14 Technologies, coming home tired but not wanting to check out on my son. Trying to be fully present for Bible stories and bedtime prayers after a day that already had everything it could take out of me. Coaching youth football on the weekends. I wrote about how Colossians 3:23 applies to both the shop floor and the living room. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord. That verse hits different when you're a blue collar dad in Central Washington just trying to hold it together and lead with integrity at the same time. When comments started coming in from other working parents in Moses Lake and similar small towns saying it encouraged them, that made every late night edit worth it. That's all I'm really going for. Real connection over perfection. Every single time.

I'm not a career journalist, so take this for what it is. Write what you actually know and live. The most powerful stuff comes from real experience, not research. Authenticity beats polish every single time. Nobody needs another perfectly edited piece. They need something true. Be consistent and patient. Start small, post regularly even if it's just once a month, and stop chasing viral. I started writing for my family and maybe one other working dad somewhere who needed to hear that he wasn't alone. The rest followed slowly. Slow is fine. Slow is actually how trust gets built. Stay humble and truthful. Own your mistakes. Always ask yourself: does this honor God and does this actually help someone? Integrity in small things is what builds a reputation over time. People can tell when you're performing versus when you're being real. Protect your time and your heart. Writing should add value to your life, not drain it. Family comes first. I pray before I hit publish. And it's okay to keep some stories private. Not everything needs to be content. If you feel called to share, start today. Your voice matters, especially if it's the real one.

Morning before 9am is your best shot. Once the day gets rolling I'm in the shop at Group 14 Technologies in Moses Lake and my attention is on the equipment, not my inbox. Early morning is when I have coffee in hand, the house is quiet, Ryker is still asleep, and I can actually read something and give it a real response. If you catch me in that window you've got my full attention. Miss it and you're competing with a full shift, a toddler, and whatever the Pacific Northwest throws at me that day. Keep it short, keep it real, and send it early.

Honestly I don't get a flood of pitches being a personal blogger in Moses Lake, Washington. But the best one I could imagine getting would be something like this: a local Central Washington reporter reaches out and says hey Jason, we're doing a story on how working families in Moses Lake balance long industrial shifts with faith and fatherhood and your post on showing up for your son after a tough day really resonated with us. Would you be open to sharing a quick thought on what keeps you anchored? That would stop me in my tracks. Because it's specific. They actually read something I wrote. It's local and grounded in real life here in Grant County. The best pitches feel like the person did their homework. They're not trying to fit you into a story you don't belong in. They found you because you actually fit. That's the kind of pitch I'd respond to in about thirty seconds flat.

The one that takes the cake was a generic promo for some high end crypto investment tool. Subject line said something like "Boost Your Income as a Blogger!" Zero connection to faith, fatherhood, blue collar work, or anything remotely related to life in the Pacific Northwest. I write about Colossians 3:23 and showing up for my son after long shifts at Group 14 Technologies. I write about story time at the Moses Lake Public Library and what it feels like to watch your two year old take the whole thing completely seriously. Crypto tools are not exactly in that lane. I smiled, hit delete, and got back to what actually matters. The lesson is pretty simple: if you can swap out my name for anyone else's name and the pitch still makes perfect sense, you did it wrong. The best pitches feel like they were written specifically for you. The worst ones feel like you were just another email address on a list.

Black coffee, strong and hot. No fancy stuff. It's what gets me through early shifts at Group 14 Technologies and long days fixing equipment. On weekends or after a hike with my son in the PNW, I switch to iced tea or just water with lemon. Simple things that keep me grounded. Nothing beats a fresh cup while reading my Bible or watching the sun come up over Moses Lake.

Honestly if I'm not at a computer or in the shop at Group 14 Technologies, I'm probably outside somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Hiking with Ryker, chasing sunsets out around Moses Lake, exploring trails after a long shift. A big chunk of my time goes to church and family. Grace Harvest Church in Moses Lake is a big part of my week and so is just being present at home. Reading the Bible together, family devotions, coaching youth football when the season is going. That stuff is non-negotiable for me. Faith and fatherhood don't take days off. Outside of that it's pretty simple. I lift weights in the garage pretty regularly, I take a lot of photos, and if Ryker has anything to say about it we're probably at McDonald's because that's where the big indoor toys are and that kid will find any excuse to go. He's two and he's already figured out how to work me on that one.

Honestly the Bible. That's not a Sunday school answer, that's just the truth. Proverbs especially. If you want practical wisdom for navigating work, relationships, leadership, and life in general it's all right there. I'll read a single proverb in the morning before a shift and it'll sit with me all day. The Gospels are where I go when I need to be reminded what actually matters. Reading about how Jesus moved through the world, how he treated people, how he handled pressure and criticism and exhaustion, that stuff is directly applicable to daily life as a dad and a mechanical technician in Moses Lake, Washington in ways that still surprise me. If you're asking what publication genuinely shapes how I think and how I show up every day, it's the Bible and it's not particularly close. Everything else I read I'm filtering through what I already found in there anyway.

That it's soft lifestyle fluff. That's the big one. People hear faith and family blogging and they picture perfectly staged photos, feel good quotes over sunset backgrounds, and content that never gets into anything real. That's not what I'm doing. I'm a full time Mechanical Technician in Moses Lake, Washington. I come home from long shifts at Group 14 Technologies with grease under my nails and a tank that's running close to empty. I'm a single dad figuring out how to be fully present for Ryker after days that already took everything I had. I write about the gritty practical reality of trying to live out Colossians 3:23 on the shop floor and in the living room on the same day. That verse doesn't just apply when things are going well. It especially applies when they're not. The misperception is that this kind of writing is easy or sentimental. The truth is it's about showing up every single day with integrity, owning it when you fall short, doing hard physical work and then coming home and doing the harder work of being a present father and a man of actual faith. Not performed faith. Real faith that gets tested on a Tuesday.