I called my son yesterday. His wife is still working outside the home and he’s trying to figure out how to work from home, while homeschooling a daughter and trying to keep his son from tearing pictures off the wall. What I really heard was an overwhelming tiredness. I’m hearing and sensing the same thing […]
This past few weeks have seemed like a movie, but somehow I’m in it. Every day the situation changes, there’s new actors and the script changes. We’re using phrases like social distancing, with distances that get continually farther and for longer periods of time. Children are not in schools. Sports teams are shut down. Businesses […]
One of my favorite things about leading a team to Haiti is our reflection time each night. We talk about what happened during the day, where we saw God that day, and then we pose a question to the group. Each night a different person chooses the question. I have a book of questions that […]
For some reason, I’ve been putting my clothes on backwards. I showed up for a meeting with my boss and she said, “Hey, I think your sweater is on backwards.” I spent half a day feeling like something wasn’t right and found out my t-shirt was on backwards. Went to the gym this morning and […]
When we go on our trips to Haiti, there are often steps. Steps to the second level of our guest house. Steps to the second level of our school. Steps in the entryway to a building. Because construction is not as exacting, it is common that the steps are different heights. Even though in very […]
Advent is a time of preparation. It is the four weeks leading up to Christmas and the anticipation of the coming of Jesus into the world. Candles are used to symbolize this journey. The first candle is the Prophecy or Hope candle. Typically a purple candle, it is in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, […]
It seems that bells aren’t used as much anymore. I remember the long rope to the bell tower and the deep “tong” would toll, announcing the church service was beginning. Not sure if its real purpose was a shaming technique – hey sleepy heads, you missed church again. Town squares used to have chimes that […]
This past week, as we have gotten closer to Thanksgiving, there have been conversations about eating and favorites. Turkey, green-bean casserole, sweet potatoes, and pie are always high on my “looking forward to eating” list. When I think back to my childhood, our regular meals were pretty modest. Growing up as a preacher’s kid, I […]
James 3: 9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. First of all, if you want to read a challenging book in the Bible, pick James. It’s a letter written by the half-brother of Jesus, who didn’t believe his […]
We were able to travel to southeast Utah and visited a couple national parks with unique and beautiful rock formations. The topography of the area is so unusual and breath-taking. As we were walking trails and observing various rock structures, we came upon many gnarly pine trees. Later I found out these were Utah juniper […]