The other day, my wife and I were in San Francisco, enjoying some time with our son and his family. We drove our car there, but that’s not how we got around, once we arrived. You might say we ‘Ubered’ it. On my cell phone, I ordered up transportation over the two or three days…
I wonder? I do wonder, like most people, I suppose, about a lot of things. But today, I wonder about how different things would be for me, if … If I lived a truly grateful life? What would it mean to the way I think, the way I act, the way I live, if every morning, as my feet hit…
Sometimes, I catch myself saying things I haven’t really thought through. They’re often phrases that I use, but when I really examine them, I discover are pretty empty of meaning, really. They’re almost like ‘fillers’ or ‘fluff’ in trying to communicate. For example, I caught myself the other day using the phrase, “It goes without…
When I was a kid, one of my favorite pastimes was playing hide-and-seek. On hot, Midwest summer nights, the kids in our neighborhood all got together for that game that was tremendous fun. A great game of hide-and-seek needs a good number of players. But, it’s not a team sport. Hide-and-seek’s not like baseball, where…
I am one who has a difficult time keeping track of what I need to remember. Over the years, I’ve developed the habit of writing things down on sticky notes, or keeping lists in a small notebook. I have notes about appointments I need to make, things at the grocery store I need to pick…
I sat one windy afternoon on a bench at Mount Hermon’s Conference Center in Northern California and talked with a magazine editor about writing and about life as a writer. I told my editor friend that at times, I felt very lonely as a writer. He sat patiently and listened as I talked about how…
For more than twenty years now, as part of my everyday life, I’ve had the privilege of serving as a professional life coach for Christian doctors, while also being one of the pastors of a church I love. I love my church. And oddly enough, I love Christian doctors. There’s an interesting connection between those…
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I notice things that cause me to pause and think. For example, the other day I saw a weight loss program being advertised on the web. Two pictures in the ad sort of jumped out at me. The pictures were labeled: Before and After. The ‘Before’ picture was…
Our apple trees are loaded this year. I’m looking forward to the cool Autumn days when it will be time to pick those apples and enjoy the annual ritual at our house of my wife making apple butter, and apple sauce. I’ve written in other places about a memory I have about our very first…
My wife and I are in that stage or phase of life where reducing the ‘stuff’ we’ve accumulated over our lives and ministry seems like a good thing to do. Our storage areas are filled with boxes of memorabilia we’ve gathered over the years. We spent several hours the other day, sorting through treasures that…