Although I had fast-forwarded through the commercials (awe…the endorphins) it still took over an hour of viewing time to complete one 45-minute show. The reason, I concluded, was the number of times I had pressed the pause button on the remote. I press pause for three valid reasons: I’m hungry and want a snack.My wife has something “important” to tell…
Have you ever found yourself questioning God? Seriously, you were sure He was going to come through…answer your prayer…stop the pain…heal your friend or whatever…but He did not! The answer you got was unacceptable…unreasonable or might have even felt unloving. You felt like protesting but that felt like sacrilege. After all, how could you question God? One of the Old…
A few years ago, I came to a sobering life realization: I was not going to live long enough to accomplish everything on my bucket list. I was in fact going to have to be more intentional with my prioritizing and cross some things off my long list of goals. Crossing things off my list was disconcerting because I hate…
“Good enough is the new perfection” captured my attention as I read the words on a t-shirt. I found it to be extremely intriguing and simultaneously troubling. Was this meant as a joke or an excuse? I admit to being a perfectionist - or shall I say “given to excellence” (as I prefer to refer to my tendencies). However, lowering…
I am a flash, bang, dazzle type of person. I like the big moments of life and ministry. Music moves my soul, especially when it crescendos. Fireworks are exciting but my favorite part is the finale. However, it is not wise to build a life or ministry on crescendos, finales, and dazzle because they are not sustainable. Real life and…
Words are powerful and process the ability to evoke a myriad of emotions while bringing comfort, pain, motivation, or discouragement. Words are the catalysts for actions and thoughts. For example, the following words spoken singularly can arouse emotion and create action: FireStopGoHate Love Understanding the power of words should cause us to think carefully before speaking. Proverbs 21:23 admonishes us…
No. I did not mean “a hole in my heart.” I meant “soul.” There are people in your church or community who resonate with my statement. They may define it with different words but they understand the concept. They belong to a fellowship of people bound by grief which they did not ask to join. I originally wrote this post…
"Sometimes when I spin really fast, the kitchen looks like it's going to fall over!" Carly (5 years old) Perhaps you can relate to little Carly’s words. I can. I do. Often. But in reality, it’s your world not the kitchen that appears to be falling over. Ever feel like your world is moving too fast? Sometimes I move so…
The concept of “Waterboarding,” does not naturally engender happy thoughts and is probably repulsive. Many of you can unequivocally identify with the concept. “Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning.” (Wikipedia) There are always…
Cliff-jumping, parachuting, repelling, bungee jumping: for most people, these might all be just a bit outside their comfort zone. Accomplishing any of these means taking a step into the unknown. Your heart is pounding, your eyes are wide open (or squeezed tightly shut, as the case may be) and your mind is negotiating with your body. Eleanor Roosevelt said it…