It was probably dead. It had grown sluggish before its skin peeled away to reveal the tough substance beneath. It stopped moving, encased within a hardened shell. To any passerby this lifeless object was barely noticeable; a minute inanimate object within a busy world. But one day that changes. The ‘dead’ thing shudders, it trembles …
We had just finished the fifth station. We were a peculiar assortment of strollers, clergy collars, t-shirts, and walking shoes all silently falling behind a wooden cross being carried through Canton. There was just the slightest hush of a skid before the startling crunch of collision. Glancing up I scanned the line of cars stretching …
It was March 17thand everyone was just walking around campus like it was any other day. “What is wrong with these people?!” I thought. “It’s SAINT PATRICK’S DAY!!!! Where’s the green? Where are the shamrocks? The sounds of a parade and scents of festival food wafting through the air? And bagpipes. My word. Can someone …
I started in ministry back in 2005 and this past Sunday I had a first. I had no voice. Now there have been several Sundays where I have had to croak out a sermon. I even remember a Holy Week and Easter Sunday where I was gargling salt water right before the service just to …
I remember one of my first Thanksgivings with my in-laws. My father-in-law beckoned me over and said: “I want to show you something. You know Romans 14?” A he opened his Bible I couldn’t help but notice this grin trying to break through from the corners of his mouth. “Right here,” he said pointing “Some …
BREATHE. Not happening. BREATHE. Trying. BREATHE. Gasp. As another contraction surged I gathered my concentration on that simple action to breathe. My body felt like a stampede of wild horses thundering recklessly through the delivery room, completely unaware and dismissive of my attempts to rein it in. My breaths felt snatched before taken, a struggle …
All is not well in the Neighborhood of Make Believe. Something is just not right. Something scandalous has occurred, someone has changed things around. Suddenly the Eiffel Tower is on the wrong side of the castle, the tree has gone from one side to the other, the clock, the fountain, just everything in the wrong …
I had five minutes. I dashed (more like waddled) into the closet and snatched the onesie from the hanger and threw it into a small suitcase lying open on the bed. The contractions weren’t slowing. My only motivator was an unscheduled doctor’s visit now scheduled within the hour to check and see if things were …
On Aug. 21, 2017, skies darkened from Oregon to South Carolina in the first total solar eclipse visible from coast to coast across the United States in 99 years. And totality was coming right our way. Confession? I was geeking out. We loaded up the kids early that morning and drove down to Pisgah Forest where …
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. –Hebrews 10 …