Giving Out Isn’t Giving Up
Some truths come early in life, others much later. This one without warning found me in the yard while I was cutting my grass in the heat of the day. I know, and I am sure of only one thing—that I don’t know anything. I ask myself: Did I really do all of that? Live…
The Hard Choices Rarely Feel Good
I’ve made decisions I’ve lived to regret because I was wrong. I chose poorly, and people including me got hurt. I’ve also made decisions I’ve lived to regret even when I was right. I chose correctly, but the outcome wasn’t what I expected. People including me still got hurt. I’ve learned that how I feel…
PRAY FOR THE PRODIGAL
Someone once asked me, “Will you do this?” I said,”I will.” Someone once asked me further, “Are you sure that you want to do this because it will be a struggle and a sacrifice?” I said, “I’m sure.” I have not thought about it before but I am thinking about it now. I wonder if…
In a Perfect World…
I was dreaming and talking in my sleep but the sound of my voice woke me up. So here I am at dark-thirty on the morning of my birthday just thinking, just praying, just hoping, that I can organize the processes of my heart and mind into something that makes sense. Over the past several…
The Evolution of Dad
When I was a young married man I thought the greatest disadvantage my new bride and I had was the fact that our parents lived so very far away from us. Thirty years ago cellular phones were still a thing of the future and Al Gore hadn’t yet invented the Internet (if you believe that…
The Value of Sadness
Tears drop, tears fall, but the Father says tears rise….to Him. He captures them, He keeps them, and He stores them in a bottle. He treasures them not for what they are but for what they have done, for what they mean. When time is undone and is no more, when this vessel of flesh…
The Good Man
I’m the man who cannot watch just one TV station for more than a minute or two. I am compelled to keep changing the channels. My wife said once it’s a “man thing.” Since our TV remote is usually MIA, I don’t watch very much TV. I’m just not willing to stand in front of…
Life of Dad
I have a significant opportunity for personal growth. To take advantage of my opportunity I must change the way I think about some things. I think my “thinking” is correct but the way I live doesn’t always demonstrate what I’m supposed to know. Perhaps the real issue is whether or not I truly believe what…
Frustration and How My Son Learned
Circa 1968. Frustration discovered. I became frustrated because of my inability to hold a flashlight in a manner that satisfied my father. “I can’t strap the flashlight to my head, so you will have to hold it steady!”“Sorry Dad, I will try to do better.” I never really got the hang of it. Circa 1998….
I See You
I haven’t much time left…or nerve. So while I have the thoughts, I must capture them…nail them to this page….before they disappear like smoke. There are some things that are so profoundly personal to others that to even speak in whispers of them feels insulting. “You have no right, how dare you ambush me with…