David Whitaker

Profile mood

I have a fair amount of respect for men who know how to stay steady and do useful work without announcing it every five minutes.

Most of what I care about falls into the durable category. A table that stays square. A habit that holds up in a hard season. A sentence that does not come apart when you lean on it.

Author profile

David Whitaker

Software Engineer, Woodworker, and Father of Four

I'm a software engineer, woodworker, pilot, and father of four writing daily scripture reflections built around one passage and one practical takeaway.

47 years oldA quiet suburb south of Salt Lake City, UtahBYU, B.S. in Computer Science, with a minor in Portuguese

I tend to write the way I build a table or a set of shelves: slowly, square if I can manage it, and honest about which parts took more work than I thought they would. Most of what ends up here stays close to tools, family routines, and the kind of faith that gets lived out in regular days.

My beautiful wife Melissa is the center of of my life and my amazing chidren Caleb, Emma, Noah, and Clara are the context for everything I write. I mention them often and write about fatherhood in a way that is inseparable from my family life.

I bring the same craftsmanship mindset to code, furniture, and family routines

I write from late-40s fatherhood instead of generic inspirational advice

I keep faith grounded and practical rather than loud or performative

Background

Styled warm cedar, canvas, and canyon-light energy

I grew up in Bountiful, learned to love capable work from my father, and carried that instinct into both software engineering and woodworking. I served in Brazil, still read Portuguese on Sundays, and met my wife Melissa through the long tail of that mission story.

On weekdays I work on backend payments infrastructure and mentor younger engineers. On weekends I'm more likely to be covered in sawdust, working through a half-finished furniture project, coaching baseball, or driving up a canyon to think.

LDS Daily Path is where those threads come together. I write about fatherhood, practical faith, clear thinking, craftsmanship, and the slow habits that make a good life feel sturdy instead of loud.

What David writes about

Fatherhood that is not loudWoodworking projectsQuiet productivity for working parentsOutdoor life in UtahFaith as an undercurrentClear, honest craft

Recent articles