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The Watermelon Gospel
A restless search for meaning. An unexpected encounter with grace.

Grace has a way of showing up when no one is looking for it. In the restless afterglow of the 1970s, Bill Blomquist set out with a thumb pointed toward the open road and a longing he couldn’t yet name. His winding journey through surf breaks, friendships, and missteps led to moments of unexpected grace.

 

The Watermelon Gospel is a memoir of surrender discovered slowly—not in certainty, but in lived experience. With warmth, humor, and unguarded honesty, Blomquist traces a young hippie's search for meaning that leads him, often sideways and surprised, toward God's quiet persistence. This is a story for seekers, doubters, and anyone who has sensed that holiness sometimes appears in the most ordinary places—just waiting to be received.

Content note:

This memoir contains mature themes, including references to drugs, smoking, sexuality, and strong language.

Five seasons of The Watermelon Gospel, told through the music that runs through Billy’s story.

Choose a chapter of the journey, press play, and ride along.

Hear the Journey

surf, space, and sunshine

Billy grows up among rocket launches, ocean waves, and adventures with his best friend, Micky. But his parents’ divorce and his father’s departure cloud his childhood. The beach becomes his refuge as he learns to bury his hurt and pretend everything is fine.

california dreaming

Uprooted to Massachusetts, Billy searches for belonging through drugs, romance, and music. His cousin Nancy offers a glimpse of faith, but he keeps chasing other answers. Returning to Florida, he plunges into the Robinson household’s parties and occult experiments, while unexpected encounters hint that God is pursuing him.

Thumbs Our, Running hard

Hitchhiking brings Billy outrageous adventures, dangerous rides, and a night in jail. Along the road, Christians challenge his resistance to Jesus. A stranger’s prayer, an ice-cold watermelon, and an encounter beside a burning van leave him wondering whether God is answering his demands for a sign.

the shores of surrender

Billy struggles between faith and familiar habits until frightening encounters with drugs bring him to a desperate prayer on the beach. Surrender opens the way to peace and a changed life. Later, reunited with Micky at a Christian gathering, he experiences the Holy Spirit’s power and releases years of buried grief.

the long road home

Billy’s journey leads through healing in Israel, reconciliation with his father, and the discovery that classmates had prayed for him years earlier. Yet faith does not end his struggles. After an affair and divorce bring devastating loss, a second watermelon becomes an unexpected reminder that God has not abandoned him.

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