Being a parent is like jumping out of an airplane. You only get one chance to get it right. The thrill of beginning the journey is replaced by a hope that everything lands on target. Pam and I today are out of the plane, the rip cord has been pulled and we are drifting slowly [...]
I suspect most pastors would not want their kids to live in their house forever. At some point, the little munchkins need to move out of the basement and into a home or apartment of their own. So, if families are okay with sending their kids into the world to be productive adults, why are [...]
Thanks for all your prayers, Facebook posts, emails, text messages, Tweets, voicemails, and even the snail mail cards. I really appreciate all the encouragement as I move toward heart surgery this Friday. I am thankful for each of you, I promise. I, as well as Pam and the kids are completely at peace about this surgery [...]
The sabbath was not a suggestion. Moses included it in his top 10 and Jesus completely redefined this ancient practice to the Jewish culture who had made it a chore instead of a blessing. But, let’s be honest, most of us do not know how to take a day off without feeling guilty, restless or [...]
Hope is the anticipation of something good happening and I’m full of hope for the upcoming 365 days of 2011. I am sure there will be plenty of surprises, challenges, dark moments and belly laughs along the way, but one thing is certain, time will march on and we will be along for the journey. [...]
Late on a Sunday night ten years ago, the phone rang at our home in Hereford, TX. It was the phone call Pam and I had been waiting to get for a month. Our little girl was about to be born at a hospital 45 minutes away in Amarillo.
Abram had just turned two and was [...]
It was still dark outside when the alarm sounded, jarring Pam and I from a restless sleep. The day was finally here after ten years of waiting. We were going to be parents.
This part of the story had started three months earlier when a woman who attended church with us in Amarillo, TX asked if [...]
I love church. I always will. Call me an idealist, but I still believe that Jesus meant for us to live life in a big messy family, to love one another when we are not that adorable and to be in covenant relationships even at the risk of our own hurt.
For me, church is not [...]
Workaholics have damaged and destroyed more families than alcoholics, especially among leaders in the local church. I meet pastors all the time who work incessantly at building God’s house while ignoring their own. All the while they justify their long hours with phrases like “this is just a season and will not always be like [...]
Life is better when there is someone to celebrate all the victories with you. Phil Mickelson just won his third Master’s golf tournament and I have seen all three. The first one was great because it was his first and it got the proverbial monkey off his back as “the best golfer to never win [...]
