We have known for almost nine months that we would be moving away from the place we called home for the past six years. I was in denial until June 1, when I started saying good-byes. I am emotional. For two weeks, I have walked around constantly on the verge of tears. The friends in my current city have become family and I dread saying, “See you later.” (Partly because I don’t know when “later” is going to be.)  I... Read More

It is Father’s Day as I write this, but I am not thinking about how my wife and kids should be pampering me more affectionately. I am thinking about the somewhat weird world of being a PK, a pastor’s kid. I am grateful to God today that he has helped my four PK's more or less survive the strange experience of having their pastor be their father.   On the surface of it, it doesn’t seem that it should be that... Read More

Dads, let’s be honest. If we were to compare Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, you get the short end of the stick. Moms get flowers and brunch and presents. You get a silly card and a tie. Or a homemade toolbox-looking thing. Maybe steak on the grill, but that’s not so bad, is it? You don’t get nearly as much credit for parenting as moms do either. No athlete ever says, “Hi, Dad!” But, boy, we sure suffer the repercussions... Read More

I’m reading Exodus devotionally these days, and I am coming to like Moses even more than I did before. Not because he was so brilliant or courageous a leader—his stream of lame excuses for not accepting God’s commissioning were not his finest hour (see Exodus 3-4)—but his life illustrates a lot about how God does his work through us. First, Moses is born into a world where infanticide is official imperial policy. His mother saves his life with some courageous... Read More

School. Is. Out. Are you a yipee! or an oh no! kind of parent?  I am a little of both. I love my kids. I also know I get frustrated by the moments I am called upon to come up with logical consequences for behavior that stems from so much togetherness.  I don’t schedule every minute of the kids’ vacation because I believe boredom sparks the imagination. However, two years ago we heard the phrase “I’m bored” so often that... Read More

It’s time. Time to start thinking about a Father’s Day gift and card for dear old Dad. Believe it or not, Father’s Day as a national observance in the United States is much more recent in origin than Mother’s Day (proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914). Motherhood has always been as cherished as apple pie and the flag, but we Americans have a surprisingly conflicted view of the value of fatherhood. Beginning with Wilson in 1916, various presidents had... Read More

I’m sitting outside at my daughter’s water polo practice, and I’m clueless about this game. Imagine soccer, basketball, and wrestling combined—in the water. Every game I’ve watched, I’ve asked someone to explain the rules to me. I can’t see what’s going on underwater, so I have no idea why the refs are calling fouls. I’m so confused that sometimes, don’t tell my daughter this, I don’t even know which one she is. Frankly, you only see the players from the... Read More

Pope Francis caused something of a stir with some remarks in his homily last Wednesday. According to the Huffington Post the pope said: The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. "But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good." Yes, he can. . . . The... Read More

I cannot get through the national anthem without tearing up. It started long ago when I watched Dan Jansen at the Olympics. Maybe it was because I had a crush on him or that he was from my hometown or because it took him so long to get that gold in speed skating. Whatever it was, I got goosebumps and welled up when I heard that music playing. Now that I’m older, my reasons are less schoolgirlish. I know people... Read More

I regularly have a little fun with people who ask me about my speaking schedule. “Are you preaching on Sunday?” they will say. “Nope,” I answer. “I’m just talking with my friends.” It’s one of my little personal crusades, and it will get me about as far as Don Quixote got with his windmill, but I won’t give up. (In the book Don Quixote, Don Quixote mistakes a windmill for a giant. He charges the windmill, but his lance gets... Read More