Life is a trip. My son turned thirteen today. It really does feel like it was yesterday that my little guy was born. After a brief touch of crying, he looked up with those dark, observing eyes and quietly took in the view of his awestruck green parents. And we were never the same. The hospital let us take [...]

I have been reading and studying the gospel of Matthew along with friends in my church, and it has been pretty mind blowing. This Sunday I am going to be speaking from Matthew 13, where Jesus likens our hearts to soil. For me personally, the analogy is challenging. Have I let what is true be [...]

It’s still so unreal. I have a Haitian friend who works in the Dominican Republic; his wife and children live in Haiti. When the earthquake hit, he emailed me to tell me he was going home and wasn’t sure where his family was, or if they were okay. I don’t know what that’s like. It [...]

I realize how valuable new starts are. It’s a challenging, encouraging feeling to have a blank canvas, a newly tilled field, an open road. Fresh commitments are fueled by the thought: “This time I’m going to make it! I can feel it!” It’s why January is considered the most disciplined month of the year. We [...]

Maybe He should have hired a firm. The advent of Christ was a time-splitting event, forever altering history and human hearts. You would think God could have thought through a better marketing plan. A young mother, painfully pregnant, stuck in Bethlehem for a government census (the timing!). While in town for the census, she goes [...]

Tylenol shouldn’t be at the top of your Christmas wish list. I mean, come on. Every year it happens, even amongst throngs of people who say they’ll resist it: turmoil over the Christmas season. Why? Why would we ever choose this? And I use ‘choose’ very purposefully. See, I think that all of the stress, [...]

Don’t get me wrong. I am a Facebook user. I comment. I tweet. It’s great. And it sucks sometimes. Here’s why: It all falls under the label “social media”. And in a day when the most social interaction someone might have is to invite you to join their Farmtown, we could be heading towards trouble. A [...]

Hey, friends – took a very relaxing several months off blogging, but I’m back. Have some good book reviews, thoughts, restaraunts for you to visit, and pics to enjoy. Quick recap: Went on a fiction reading spree – something like a novel a week for almost four months now. Which I know isn’t a lot [...]

I was thinking this past weekend about the national celebration of independence here in the United States.  It is a moment to commemorate and celebrate freedom – and that’s a good thing.  For many, though, it has become a weekend to eat BBQ and watch fireworks. Allow this disclaimer: I really enjoy BBQ! It’s great. [...]

It’s a changing world.  There are new challenges to face, and leaders must be able to discern not only how to navigate change, but how to do so in a way that keeps the church/organization/business moving through the “change waters” with her! The Change-Resistant Saboteur Here are some scenarios that saboteurs love: “We’ve never tried that [...]