For those that know me, I’m sure it will surprise you that this suave and debonair person you know was once awkward and insecure. Ok, maybe it won’t surprise you at all. In a previous lifetime I was a middle school teacher and principal and people would ask, “How can you deal with kids that […]
Had a flashback that was unexpected. This morning on the university campus, there were men outside the buildings handing out Gideon Bibles. Now my history with the Gideon folk hasn’t always been shining. As a public school principal, we had some distribution issues. While the vast majority of men were congenial there were a few […]
This week William Hyppolite is visiting us in the U.S. Some of you know his story, but think it is worth telling. In 2008, missionaries Shirley and Joe Edgerton introduced our mission team to a student named William Hyppolite on the island of LaGonave, Haiti. They believed William had great potential. He was an orphan, […]
At the prayer service for my buddy Rob, I wasn’t able to bring myself to get up and speak. It was something I should have done, but this is what I meant to say. Rob was a Yankees fan and yet he went to at least a dozen Twins games with me. Those were trips […]
If I say family – what’s the first thing you think of? Maybe it’s a word or maybe you picture specific people. Who are the people that define your family? Here’s my random thoughts about families. I’ve categorized them into Original, Created, and Acquired Families. Original Families are the ones you don’t have any choice […]
When we were middle school age, somehow dad finagled a canoe trip in northern Minnesota for my older brother, dad, and me. He bought caps that were green, blue, and red with big white polka dots. Not sure if dad was making a fashion statement or he didn’t want to lose us on the lakes. […]
Here’s my tip of the day – don’t run for Pope. In high school, four of us were sitting around and bored so decided that I should run for Pope. The slogan was “2000 years is long enough, it’s time for a change.” We listed goofy things like public confessions, holy water in convenient six […]
I like reading Malcolm Gladwell because he looks at situations from a unique angle or viewpoint. In his latest book, David and Goliath, he talks about the concept of “remote misses.” In World War II, the Germans bombed London incessantly. Forty thousand people were killed and a million buildings were leveled or damaged. Psychiatric hospitals […]
In something I had written to a friend, they said I had opened their eyes to resentment they carried and how they needed to work on letting go. In making them aware, it struck me that I carry some hefty resentment for some past incidents. Things I can’t change. Things that are past. Things I […]
Recently I read the book King Peggy which is the story of an American secretary who discovers she has been chosen king of the impoverished fishing village of Otuam in the West African country of Ghana. Not only was she the first female king of this village, but she discovers the dire reality: there’s no […]