Blogs
Should I Be Grateful For Trials?
It is difficult to be thankful for hard times, but often in hindsight, that is when God does the most work in our lives.
Blogs
Is There Any Good in Loss and Grief?
“Grief confuses us by spinning us around to face backward, because memories are all we have left, but of course it isn’t the past we mourn when someone dies; it’s the future.” The quote above is from a book I started today called Lost & Found: A Memoir
Blogs
What I’ve Learned From Headstones
I was listening to Mike Rowe’s podcast, “The Way I Heard It” and he made a comment in discussing Memorial Day that grabbed my attention. They were discussing Arlington National Cemetery and (I am paraphrasing here) he mentioned that the remarkable thing about Arlington is that in death, the
Blogs
The Last Payphone In New York
A thought struck me this week. Finding permanence yet adapting to a temporal world. In the torrent of heavy news stories that flowed out of the little screen in my hand, one of little consequence sifted to the surface and planted this thought in my mind. This week, the last
Blogs
When You Can’t See The Forest for the Beam In Your Eye
I was raised in a home that had a strong emphasis on personal responsibility. I knew if I came home with complaints against teachers, friends, enemies, establishment, etc., I could expect to hear this question. “But what did you do?” I hated this at the time. I wanted my parents
Blogs
The Toilet Always Flushes Twice
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may remember my bathroom project and a toilet with a mysterious double flush. The project continues and the toilet still flushes twice, but there is progress. Last night, my friend, Jay, came out to the house to help me
An Empty Swear Jar Doesn’t Make You Holy
Neil Armstrong was a man that, from all accounts, counted his words. He did not speak the first thing that came to his mind. His speech was measured, calculated, and cool. He was the antithesis in some respects of the brasher and outspoken, Buzz Aldrin. In a program of cutthroat
Do I Love Everyone On The Train?
In the rushing kaleidoscope of clickbait titles that jump out of my phone screen every week, one, in particular, caught my eye. ‘Tell everyone on this train I love them’: The meaning of a hero’s final words. The article was written by Maeven Higgins, an Irish podcaster and comedian,
Why I Wake Up At 4 AM
There is an episode of Phineas and Ferb (stay with me here) where Heinz Doofenshmirtz is once again attempting to take over the tri-state area. He creates an “-anator” that will make everyone’s New Year’s Resolution be to make him leader of the tri-state area. You may already
Jesus is my gravy.
I was sitting in church Sunday morning and I was struck by a thought. Jesus is our gravy. That may or may not be an original thought though it is certainly original to me. This epiphany came out of what is to most people, our “God time.” The time in
Is Advent The Story Of Our Misplaced Priorities?
Advent, from the Latin adventus, meaning “coming”, originated somewhere around the 4th century. The practice of Advent has undergone the evolution of many traditions over time, morphing in both practice and intention to something that would be largely unrecognized today from its origins. A quick google search reveals everything from
Gratitude for Legacy
Assuming you live within the United States, you may be feeling the not-so-subtle coma effects of tryptophan. Your kitchen may look like the scullery of a Victorian home following a dinner party. Depending on your family traditions, maybe you play pick-up football games at a local park, or maybe you