…and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see theContinue reading “He Knew How to Keep Christmas Well”
“Waiting Is an Art”
“…And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyesContinue reading ““Waiting Is an Art””
“Back to School” Is Not Just for Kids
“The time has come to revive an idea that once seemed natural: the student’s life as a Christian calling.” Dr. Leland Ryken, author and professor, writes this in a chapter that he contributed to Liberal Arts for the Christian Life. For Ryken and many Christian educators (like myself), education is not a season of life meantContinue reading ““Back to School” Is Not Just for Kids”
Yes, You Can!
I really don’t like prosperity preachers (do we remember the private jet fundraising debacle?); the worldview they offer is so hollow and contradictory both to Scripture and basic human experience. The biblical narrative is pretty clear: God made all things perfect, the first humans fell from grace in an attempt to become divine themselves, God beganContinue reading “Yes, You Can!”
Rooted, Unrooted: Can I Settle in without Settling for the American Dream?
Ever since college, really, I have struggled with the tension of being rooted versus being unrooted (not uprooted per se). In college I was in a serious relationship, and when that relationship ended, I realized, looking back, that I was in it for all the wrong reasons. I wanted the perfect, idyllic life (as I saw it).Continue reading “Rooted, Unrooted: Can I Settle in without Settling for the American Dream?”
We’re Married: El Salvador-USA Wedding
the landing. Exactly 349 days after saying goodbye at St. Louis Lambert Airport as she flew back to El Salvador for us to complete the immigration process, I greeted Elena (this time at Kansas City International Airport) with tears, kisses, and a great big hug. I’d like to say that the moment was just likeContinue reading “We’re Married: El Salvador-USA Wedding”
What I’m Missing Even When I Have It All
…contentment. I find contentment to be so elusive. It’s been that way nearly all my life. You know what? Since I flew to South America in 2014 for ten weeks in Ecuador and Peru, I have not lived in the same place for more than a year (until now). my story In 2014, despite myContinue reading “What I’m Missing Even When I Have It All”
My First Published Poem
Really, this is late news, but last fall a poem of mine was selected to fill the pages of Glass Mountain, “a literary journal edited by undergraduate students at the University of Houston” and “dedicated to showcasing the works from undergraduate and emerging artists.” This, of course, is a humble achievement (I wasn’t exactly publishedContinue reading “My First Published Poem”
What Is Your Sacred Pathway?
The other day I was tasked with leading a faculty devotional at my school. I decided to put together a small presentation based on Gary Thomas’s book Sacred Pathways, a book I read several years ago. Here’s the premise of the book, one of Thomas’s thoughts in the opening pages: “Expecting all Christians to haveContinue reading “What Is Your Sacred Pathway?”
“Thanks, God. I mean it now.”
I remember the elation I was feeling during the days leading up to my appointment at the U.S. embassy in El Salvador. I was on vacation from my teaching job during the Holy Week, Semana Santa, and I had just returned from a short trip to Antigua, Guatemala with my then-girlfriend, Elena, and her family. ForContinue reading ““Thanks, God. I mean it now.””
a great, real place 