Obviously, I don't have all the answers. In fact, the more I learn, the more I realize how little I actually know. I find it's one of the things that keeps me pressing into the presence of my Heavenly Father, because only He holds the words of life. Early in our journey of loss, grief,... Continue Reading →
I don't know that I've met anyone that doesn't dream of adventure. Even as children we have dreams of being an astronaut, or a pirate, or a knight in shining armor. We imagine ourselves as firefighters, pilots, warriors, princesses, and kings. Some of us pursue and catch our dreams and live the adventure. And yet... Continue Reading →
I wasn't certain how to label this message. So, I went for the simple and "to the point" title. The bottom line is I have felt overwhelmed many times the past two years, and especially the last few months. It's why I haven't written very much recently...I felt overwhelmed and empty. But what does it... Continue Reading →
It's typically the first question that a person must come to terms with in their pursuit of the eternal: Is God good? In wrestling with that issue, other questions usually comes to mind and they usually surround our circumstances, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It's easy to proclaim God's goodness when things are... Continue Reading →
I don't know about you, but in my life, there has always been a finality to the word "failure." For me, I've had to overcome this concept that to fail means that "it's over. I lost." Failure can define a career, a competition, a mistake, an accident, or any number of other disappointments that happen to... Continue Reading →
"Light the fire in my soul, fan the flame, make me whole. Lord, You know just where I've been, so light the fire in my heart again." Light the Fire by Bill Maxwell Sometimes we look at the disappointment, pain and failures of life and feel like all our hopes and dreams have burned to... Continue Reading →
One month ago, our family boarded a flight to Turkey. It's a flight that we've taken more times than I can count over the past twenty years. Turkey has been our home for most of that time. But, two years ago, we transitioned our family back to the United States. Now, as our time here... Continue Reading →
"I don't want to be in the same place two years from now. I want to be better and further down the road, healed and moving toward my purpose." I said that about two years ago after the sudden and tragic loss of our twenty year old daughter. My expectation was that "time heals all... Continue Reading →
What do you do when Sadness seems to surround you and cut you off from the world? Sadness shouldn't be seen as the enemy. Sadness is there to get us through the pain - if only we will allow it.
"Don't talk about that." "Keep that to yourself." "Don't be so dark, it depresses other people. and no one wants to be around you." It seems in an attempt at "keeping up appearances", that when we show a darker side of our lives, it makes everyone uncomfortable. I will go on record and say that... Continue Reading →
Not going to lie. Everything still hurts. In the back of my mind I guess I've always had this unconscious belief that with enough time, things would get easier and life would move on. It's been almost two years since we lost Aly, our 20 year old daughter. Her birthday is in one week -... Continue Reading →
I QUIT! This is too difficult and it HURTS! I cannot tell you how many times those words have floated through my head! Developing a lifestyle of overcoming failure, pain, rejection, and the many other obstacles that the enemy will send at us, requires more than just a desire to overcome. Desire can bring about... Continue Reading →
Do you ever have those days where you know you're supposed to do something, but you also know it's going to be difficult or NOT FUN!? It's that word that NOBODY likes to hear: OBEDIENCE. Aaarrgh! There have been many times in my walk with God where I've had nothing to offer but my obedience.... Continue Reading →
My goal in starting a blog was to write something once a week. Because I'm an "inspirational" writer, if I'm not inspired by some random thought or God-speaking moment, I struggle to know what to write. This week has been like that. I could give an update about how great it was to have several... Continue Reading →
"If you do not plan to live the Christian life totally committed to knowing your God and to walking in obedience to Him, then don't begin, for this is what Christianity is all about. It is a change of citizenship, a change of governments, a change of allegiance. If you have no intention of letting... Continue Reading →
I know a lot of people that are risk takers. Michelle and I love to surround ourselves with "risky" people. Some of them will jump off a cliff without looking over the edge or considering what lies at the bottom. They love putting their full trust in the Lord, like Jonathan and his armor bearer,... Continue Reading →
If you're like me, you probably have things in your life that have followed you around relentlessly that you would prefer to get rid of. I'm not talking about people (although maybe you have a few of those as well...I'll save that for later post). I'm talking about those pesky failures and disappointments. I'm talking... Continue Reading →
Finding Hope and Purpose in the Storm 