How to Love on Ordinary Days
Yesterday was Valentine’s Day or, as I have heard some of my students call it, “Singles Awareness Day.” Loving is hard enough on an ordinary day, much less on a day devoted to the celebration of...
View ArticleWhen Your Daughter Comes Home
I was never able to travel when I was a child, so when each of my children reached ten years of age I took them to London, England, for a week. I wanted them to discover the world. On their last day in...
View ArticleFour Kinds of Love, One Way of Life
Love mystifies me. I cry at movies and when I read books. I tear up when I see young couples holding hands. My heart skips a beat when I see parents with young children. Love makes the world go round,...
View ArticleHow to Be a Child Again
It is that time of year again. The pitchers and catchers have reported. The Spring Training games have begun. Baseball is back. Rogers Hornsby, the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famer, once said, “People...
View Article5 Life Rules We Learn From Baseball
I understand not everyone is a baseball fan. I am sorry for that and I pray for them daily. Baseball takes three hours to play a game, a weekend to sort out a series, and a spring and a summer and part...
View Article4 Reasons to Try Difficult Things
I took a break. I didn’t write last week, and maybe part of the week before last week. I forget. The marketer, writer, encourager, and internet gadfly Seth Godin says the most important thing is...
View Article5 Lessons I Have Learned the Hard Way
One day last year I woke up and realized I was older than I was young. Call it a mid-life crisis. Call it a creak in the bones. I felt older than I remembered. When I could remember. I seem to forget...
View ArticleHow to Fail at Following Jesus
Holy Week always scares me. It just chases the Baptist right out of me. It haunts me and taunts me. It challenges me and asks if I would follow Jesus to the cross. Growing up as a Baptist we did Easter...
View ArticleWhat to Do When Your Friends Turn Against You
There is no heartbreak quite like the heartbreak of standing alone among friends. You say something and look for affirming nods, but everyone just stares at you. You step forward, and notice everyone...
View ArticleWhy We Are Among the Walking Dead
Zombies are more popular than Sheldon Cooper, Blake Shelton, and Mariah Carey. The Big Bang Theory, The Voice, and American Idol have all lost in the ratings this year to The Walking Dead. In its third...
View ArticleBrad Paisley as a Wheelhouse Prophet
Jesus says that prophets are not accepted in their hometown. A few of the songs on Brad Paisley’s new Album Wheelhouse will likely prove that point. Paisley offers a new album filled with familiar...
View Article133 Ways “Grace is”
When my wife and I came home from work the day before yesterday it was hot in the house. Very hot. That moment when you realize the air conditioner is not working hot. That moment when you start...
View ArticleWhen Your Daughter Graduates into Life
My daughter graduated from college Saturday. You might say, “Well people graduate from college all the time!” This is true, but this is my daughter and I am particularly proud. She is a middle child...
View Article3 Reasons Your Life Can Be a Comedy
Recently my son was asking questions about how my wife and I met. We were lab rats for a writing project in one of his classes. Since I was out of town for the weekend my wife and I both wrote up our...
View Article4 Ways to Slow Down
I did not write for three weeks and it was on purpose. At first, I thought I would skip a post, and then it was two posts and then three. Then I thought, “Okay, I will write tomorrow.” Then I would...
View ArticleRemembering the Fallen . . . Norman Ottis Copeland
His name was Norman Ottis Copeland. He was my cousin. He died in Vietnam. He died more than forty-five years ago on the other side of the world but he has lingered in the landscape of my mind for my...
View ArticleWhy is Religion Losing Influence in the U.S.?
Last week the Gallup organization reported 77% of Americans say religion is losing its influence on American life. Only 20% of Americans say it is increasing in influence. Combine this with the Pew...
View ArticleLearning How to Let Go
I have a love affair with books. I started dating books when I saw Dick and Jane run after Spot in first grade. I nurtured the relationship in third grade when The Scholastic Book Club let me order...
View ArticleHow My Dog Taught Me to Fix Things
I have a dog named Max. Max is a very big dog. Max weighs 120 pounds. As a mix between a Pyrenees and a Newfoundland he impersonates a big fur ball sized bear walking through the house. Gentle in...
View ArticleWhat Trayvon Martin Teaches Us About Ourselves
If we are willing to learn, then Trayvon Martin can teach us something about ourselves. Even now, four days after the verdict the discussion continues. Trayvon Martin’s death at the hands of George...
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