“I am committed this school year. I am going to write a Bible verse on my chalkboard every week to inspire my children. I believe this will start our year off right.” I made this commitment three years ago. The first verse I wrote was I Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Little did I know, the written chalkboard verse was a lesson for me.… … Continue reading
From all your friends at WAY-FM, here’s something really important we need to tell you. Wow, we just can’t say this enough. … Continue reading
Inadequacy. We all struggle with it. We all come to parenting with our own baggage, our own challenges, our own character flaws and because we love our children so desperately, we try as hard as we can to help them avoid all those same mistakes. I felt inadequate when I had one child. I felt completely incapable when I had two children. By the time I learned that Bliss was on the way due just… … Continue reading
It was a beautiful spring afternoon, and I was taking the short walk to pick up my kids from school. Parents who see each other every day were walking past with their heads down. No hello or head nod, just the American silent treatment. My family was in the throes of loss from the sudden and tragic loss of my mother-in-law. As I looked around I saw the same pain we were experiencing in their… … Continue reading
I had just finished reading an update on the financial crisis now crippling much of the world along with a warning of what may be coming to America. It doesn’t take a financial specialist to predict, with the exceptional debt that our nation finds itself in and the personal debt many of us hold as well, that without a turn around tough times are a comin’. But as I listened to this report, it was… … Continue reading
When I was in high school, my classmates voted me “Most likely to devote my life to a lost cause.” A decade and a half later, some may still give me that award. Cofounding an organization to take on the HIV/AIDS and water crises in the world’s second largest continent, probably looks like a lost cause to many, if not most. But as I peer over the African desert and into the rest of the world, skipping from news headline… … Continue reading
So, this is what poverty really looks like. “Leave any valuables on the bus. This is a dangerous part of town.” We exited single file and walked through muddy streets, glancing at mangy dogs and piles of trash. I couldn’t tell where one home stopped and another began. Rows of wood, concrete, and tin walls peppered with wire fencing boxed us in as we moved forward as a group. I followed, then found myself passing… … Continue reading
A few years ago I felt really close to God. I was growing in my faith, talking and walking with God, and even though things weren’t perfect, life was going well. Then, for the next year or so, I felt stuck in a rut. I felt like I wasn’t maturing in my faith and was becoming distant from God. It wasn’t until I tried the steps below that I noticed a positive change in my… … Continue reading
Dear Sweet Child of Mine, I know you are so big now. You’re growing up faster than I could have ever imagined. In my mind, you went from 16 months to 16 years in about two weeks. It’s gone by so quickly for me and even as you wish away your youth in exchange for budding independence, I can still see you as a baby in my arms. Oh it was not so long ago… … Continue reading
Failure is inevitable. Last night I got into an altercation with my young daughter. She wanted to watch a TV show; I wanted her to go to bed. What came next was a series of escalating arguments that ended with one person running out of the room crying and the other person weary and disappointed. (I’ll let you figure out who was who.) As grown-ups, we have a responsibility to steward our lives well. This… … Continue reading
