Impactful lessons Testimonies…are life impacting stories, usually about how someone or some event redirected their journey in life or thought process. Some just slightly, while others can be profound, especially if it is a spiritual encounter. Most likely you have experienced this in your own life. It is so vivid, probably unforgettable. Rafy spent the […]
The Blessing When someone I just met tells me to ‘have a blessed day’, I know I’m most likely speaking to a believer. There is something very spiritual about the word; blessed, or blessing. Many families, mostly Christian, pray a blessing at mealtime. Rare to see that in public today. But pronouncing blessings is good […]
Fathers and daughters You don’t have to look far to see the fatherhood effect. I read recently that the depression of fathers and their daughters is linked, and that an adolescent girl is more at risk of developing mental health problems if the father had experienced depression in the weeks after her birth. It made […]
Being a father When you have a speaker at one of the Fathers Forum events, you assume that person is an expert. You expect that the person has gone through training to become knowledgeable. But I have fallen many times as a father. I have gotten back up by the grace of our Lord, Jesus […]
Arthur and Betty ‘Cookie’ WOODPILES…are something virtually every person living is familiar with. I first experienced them as a very young boy as the young’uns were usually selected to bring in a log or two for the stove for cooking or heating. Anyone with a log-burning fireplace has one. Some are neatly stacked, while others […]
Friendship Recently, as I left a coffee meeting with my friend, Kevin, I thought of how grateful I am to have such a friendship, and how randomly it began. Five years ago a mutual friend in North Carolina called and told me his friend (Kevin) was moving to my neck of the woods, and asked […]
The fall of Judah The story of Daniel is one of those great parts of Scripture that clearly and repeatedly reminds us that we are never far from God. So much of the story is so familiar that I have a tendency to blow right by some of its truths when reading it. For example, […]
Bruce Springsteen I’ve been friends and ministry partners with Bill Dotson for over 30 years now. One of the many things that sometimes give Bill doubts about me is my lifelong love of the music (not necessarily the politics) of Bruce Springsteen, who I’ve seen live in concert 40 times since 1976. As Bruce sings, […]
‘I don’t give a flip’ AMBIVALENCE…has many meanings. What one came to mind when you started reading this? When I was drawn to write this, mine was ‘I don’t give a flip’. Dictionary.com records it this way. ‘Uncertainty or fluctuation, especially when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to […]
A father’s love I was on vacation, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of a lodge or restaurant somewhere with my oldest daughter, Nal, in my lap. She was 2 years old or so at the time, and had her head on my chest, awake, relaxed as we soaked in the moment. An […]