Nov 30
Thanksgiving Day is when most Americans give thanks for their abundant blessings. The day after is called ‘Black Friday’, when ironically most Americans add to their abundance during the busiest shopping day of the year. For our family, Black Friday took on a new, horrible meaning last year. Around 10:30pm, our son Elijah fled barefoot into …
Jun 06
We usually hear the phrase, “It’s about time!” when we show up late for some event. But the phrase takes on a whole new significance when we think about our limited time here on earth. One of the questions I am most frequently asked these days is, “What happens when we die?” I’m hardly an expert …
Apr 23
Children are not supposed to die before their parents. It’s out of normal order, which helps explain the depth of pain we parents feel. Fortunately, it’s also a rare event for most families. So it’s understandable that I get asked a lot of questions about dealing with the loss of a teenage son. One of …
Apr 18
There is something terribly serious about a countdown. Counting down means that there is an important event anticipated. And a countdown, by definition, means that there is a limited amount of time before that event happens. Our lives are full of countdowns. The media begins counting down the months and days before an election; our …
Apr 15
The picture I chose for this post admittedly makes me sad. I don’t like to remember Elijah as being sad, but it reminded me that sadness is infectious. When we feel down, it’s easy to bring others down with us. As an emotion, ‘up’ and ‘down’ are charged with positive and negative feelings. We judge ‘up’ as …
Apr 07
This has been an eventful Easter weekend. We officially celebrate life on the positive side of resurrection Sunday. Because of the empty tomb, we have hope for being rescued from sin and despair, and ultimately from death itself. But on Good Friday, hope was fleeting. Even upon the cross, Jesus famously quoted from Psalm 22, saying, “My …
Mar 29
I am posting this message on Palm Sunday. It’s the week before Easter, and Palm Sunday celebrates the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem surrounded by noisy celebration. Some of the religious leaders there complained about all the noisy people, but Jesus responded, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out!” (Luke 19:40). …
Mar 14
‘Unbroken‘ was one of the best books I’ve read. I’m still waiting to see the movie. I can’t imagine how difficult it would have been to endure all the intense brutality and suffering those soldiers experienced. We admire their ability to remain unbroken. But I want to focus here on why it’s important to actually become broken. …
Mar 05
What did we ever do before there was the ‘undo’ button? Those of us who grew up with vinyl records were thrilled when we could use the ‘rewind’ button when listening to tapes. Now that’s all ancient technology. But the ‘undo’ button goes way beyond the ability to rewind. Not only do we get to …
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