Five years ago, I was a 31-year-old dad of three, who had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to life than I was experiencing. Beneath the busyness of daily demands and the roller-coaster of life’s circumstances, it felt like something was missing. I opened up a journal and wrote these four questions on the page: How have the events in my life led me to where I am today? What am I supposed to do with my life? How […]
Tag Archives | Vision
Baptism, The Goodness of God, and Our Need For Revival
I first felt a call to be baptized about two years ago, but I quickly brushed it off for a number of logical reasons. But God doesn’t work by logic. In fact, faith, by definition, isn’t logical. For two years, the idea of baptism burned in my heart while I wrestled with the logic in my head. Every time I saw the word or happened to watch someone else be baptized, I couldn’t deny that’s what God was calling me […]
What Are We Teaching Our Children?
This April, my wife and I will have been married for twelve years. And I’ve spent the majority of those twelve years bouncing back and forth on the pendulum of pleasing her and simply shutting off. It’s an exhaustive charade that has robbed me of peace and caused me to fall into the trap of loving her circumstantially. I treasure the fact that she challenges me and pushes me beyond my comfort zone, but it grates on every last nerve. For more than thirty years, I’ve been […]
Three Things You Must Do Before You Pick A Word
One of the greatest practices that I have embraced in recent years is picking a word. It provides incredible promise, focusing my energy and efforts on what I want to do and who I am becoming. In fact, I even had Mike Ashcraft, the co-author of My One Word, stop by for a guest post (you can check it out here). However, before you join me and countless others in picking a word, stop. Don’t pick a word for this year. […]
The Country Store – A Short Story
Stephen came to an intersection. A seemingly wrong turn had landed him here. He was off course – the course he intended to take anyway – and all he could think about was the time he was losing. Anxiety began to swell within him as he was itching to get back on track. He hated wrong turns and now he was lost. They’re an odd thing really, wrong turns that is. Slight misjudgments that land you somewhere unintended. Our natural reaction is […]
What Otis Redding Taught Me About Vision
What do you know about Otis Redding? Otis Redding (Wiki link) was one of the most influential soul singers of the 1960’s, a black artist emerging in a very challenging time in our country’s history. He tragically died in a plane crash at 26 years old, just as his star was beginning to shine. Only a six months earlier, he had closed the Monterey Pop Festival, sharing the stage with acts such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and The Who. […]
A Blind Man Taught me About Vision
I’m not a fan of the dentist, at all. Before you label me as an anti-dentite, just hear me out. It’s not the dentist himself or his hygienist, it’s the process. My impatience meets people messing in my mouth and I get freaked out. Last week, that dreaded visit came. As I pulled into my parking space and jumped out of my car, I was admittedly focused on the fact that I didn’t want to be there. I took no care to engage in […]