Leadership rises and falls on relationship. Nowhere is that more true than at home. Tonight, after supper, I walked upstairs to change my clothes. Close behind I heard the thumping feet of my five-year-old boy. He was following me. While I slipped on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt he hopped up on our…
Sabbath. Do you take one? That was the topic of conversation around the staff meeting table this morning. I brought a book I picked up this weekend called, Sabbath by Dan Allender. It’s part of the Ancient Practices series of books edited by Phyllis Tickle. Allender writes, “We live in a dark day, but it…
I’m finished the second book. A while ago I committed myself to reading Eugene Peterson’s colossal five volume spiritual theology series. Tonight I finished Tell it Slant: a conversation on the language of Jesus in his stories and prayers. Two pages from the end my mind flipped back to my weekend experience. Here’s what happened….
Our cat lives outside. Except for the winter when she sleeps in the garage. But lately, even when the sun is shining and the thermometer is above freezing, Tiger is coming in the house. Maybe it’s because our daughter adores her. Or maybe it’s because we take pity on her for having to sit outside…
Ten years ago today, we said “I do.” At that time neither of us knew where we’d end up after a decade of marital bliss. We speculated and dreamed, even drafting a rough ten year plan. But nothing could have prepared us for such a fun-filled, wild, and crazy ride. Here’s a brief look back:…
Dying spruce trees: we’ve got a few of them at our house. I think it’s either a disease or lack of sunlight that’s causing them to shed their needles from the bottom up. Either way, it makes for a sad looking tree and and even sadder looking landscape. Trees, meet chainsaw. The ones covered with…
Tonight is our Life Group potluck night. It’s extra special because we’re getting together with ‘the other group’. They formed when our house could not longer hold all the young families. ‘The other group’ has been a shining example of successful Life Group reproduction, mainly because of Cory and Marie–the fantastic husband and wife team…
Here’s what I’m learning as a lead pastor of a multi-staff church: 1. Don’t let things fester. If there’s a problem, address it quickly. As soon as I hear that there are people asking other people about church leadership decisions, I call them and do what I can to address their questions personally. It keeps…
My semester of teaching in the classroom ended a few weeks ago. However, my work continues. I still have stacks of papers to mark. Tonight I finally finished reading and grading the final blog posts from my spiritual formation class. If your wondering how blogging fits into a college course on spiritual formation, here’s a…
For lunch today I ate a sandwich consisting of fresh bread, lettuce, chunks of red peppers, brie and goat cheese, hunks of raw red onion, and sliced tomatoes. I did a quick check for meat. There was no meat. I like meat. I don’t like raw onions or sliced tomatoes. Erika knew I might be…