New Year, New You!It’s catchy. It’s marketable. And it plays on the natural dissatisfaction that we all feel. I often feel disappointed in myself. You may sympathize… I am my own greatest critique. As the winter chill wears off, spring opens new. It quickly gives way to summer heat, and before I know what has …
Along the Western Front in Belgium, it was a dark and bitterly cold night — Christmas Eve, 1914. Soldiers had already seen far too much blood. They were deeply traumatized, aching for their families. The distance between what they believed the war would be and what it had become felt like a gaping chasm. Then, …
Colorful lights, an eclectic mix of bought and handmade ornaments, stockings hung on the wall, and a Veggie Tales Christmas CD on repeat all month long. These are some of the sights and sounds from the Christmas’s of my childhood. The focus of the season was always directly on Jesus and the story of his …
Christmas, something many long for and others dread. It often begins before fall decor is finished being placed in stores, and most don’t wait until Thanksgiving is over before the tree wreaths and ornaments make us feel very “holidayish”. Interestingly enough, it is a holiday that is greatly commercialized, and yet no price tag can …
Have you ever made a paper boat? They hold so much promise for about five seconds — until reality (and water) hit. I’ve made choices in life that felt the same way: beautifully folded plans that didn’t seem waterproof once the storms came. When we moved to Ukraine to help start a church, I had …
It was one of those moments, being a gospel pianist, that I forgot the music and watched the song leader. Of course, that’s what you are supposed to do, but with this song, at this time, with a church full of singers, the song leader was taking his liberty to lead. It was an old …
“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the Earth! Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.”— Psalm 100:1–2 When I was in high school, I took this command to heart. I thought I had a gift for music. In reality, what sounded beautiful to me probably sounded to others more …
We all do it when discussing a certain cold, milky, sweet substance. We might start with a description, when they learn that, then we spell it, but kids learn to spell pretty quickly. We had exhausted all the terminology that could be used for these sweet, milky substances and started referring to them in other …
Matthew introduces us to a part of life that we feel and experience probably daily. What is the integrity of our words? Do they matter, or perhaps more importantly, do people take what we say with a grain of salt, or know we are good for our word? Matthew 21:28-32 “What do you think? There …
The Wheat and the Weeds: Trusting the Master Gardener Many of us are attending camps and youth rallies this summer. A few years ago, I went to a camp where each team was asked to create their own “country.” They came up with flags, languages, cultures—you name it. The entire week was devoted to developing …