My Favorite Reads in 2020
As it’s nearing the end of the year, I’m going to throw my hat into the ring of end-of-year book lists (Find my 2019 post here). While last year I followed Tim Challie’s Reading Challenge, this year I decided to pick titles on my own. Last year I was really excited...
I Can’t Raise My Ebenezer
Here I raise my Ebenezer, here by thy great help I’ve come.
The words slip out through my lips as the melody runs on, but my head is not so sure. Raise my Ebenezer? Impossible.
A Pause for Prayer
I'm pausing today to pray for my brother in Christ, Tim, his wife Aileen, and their whole family. May Christ comfort and hold you and all those who are suffering. Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart...
Twitter, Some Chickens, and a Humbling Reminder
A couple of months ago, a conversation on Twitter caused me to pause and view the way that I interact with others, particularly online. As often happens on social media, I ran across a statement that was causing quite a stir, evidenced by the slew of comments and...
Wrestling with Beauty and Loss
Two weeks ago I stood in cool grass next to a three hundred foot waterfall that tumbled over rocks and streams until it reached the opening of the lake in front of me. As I stood filtering water into the bottles at my feet, I sung out hymns to the artist who had...
Waiting for Eternity
I’ve been thinking a lot about time. It’s probably hard not to nowadays. When the days slip by in the monotony of a pandemic, we have nothing else to do but carve out their worth with numbers. Five months since it started, four weeks since we went on a trip, two weeks...
My Amateur Memory Grid
This year I made the goal to memorize bigger chunks of Scripture. First I started with Psalm 16, following my usual method of repeated repetition. But after diving deeper into research about memory in the Medieval Age, I decided to try a different tactic for my next...
Is it Really True?
This past weekend two already-exhausted parents loaded up our car with camping gear, three kids, and an eighty-pound goldendoodle. Our silver Impala merged onto the interstate and left behind reality as we ventured towards the expanse of the national forest. There...
Find Someone Else!
This week we finally got our garden planted. We’ve always had a garden since we moved into this house. Each year we push our giant tiller out to the back of our property and prepare the ground for whatever seeds I’ve become excited about. Each year I plant with hope-...
Two truths for the What-ifs
These days it might be hard not to find yourself afraid. The unknowns, maybe’s, and what-ifs sneak into our minds and prop up their feet. Fear. It’s a feeling that, regardless of a pandemic, often pops into our minds until we can drown it out with a TV show or the...