Cheerleader. Fun. Engineer. Although seemingly contradictory, these are some of the labels I was known by during my younger years. Each label has positive associations for me — and also negative. When I found Christ in 2000, I felt like I needed to strip myself of those labels...
Can a career failure return more value than any success? My question was not a philosophical one following an annual review that left me completely humbled. Like many Silicon Valley firms, my company had just initiated 360 reviews. In this process, all direct reports and three peers...
When I arrived at the River back in 2013, God had a plan when I entered my small group —my wife’s small group— assigned based on marriage, not by choice. This belief kept me “one foot out” of the group, finding it very easy to skip the rhythm of our...
I found out this week that Jesús’ grandmother is visiting in Chicago from México and my heart jumped with excitement. I wanted to see her right away. After a quick mental calendar check, I realized with marked disappointment that we would not be able to travel to see...
This summer, my family had the enormous privilege of traveling to Iceland for a ten-day vacation. My husband, Mark, likes leading our family to explore less traveled corners of the world, and Iceland has fascinated him for years. We loved our time there. The Icelanders we met were...
I want to live a transformed life--one that is not held in chains from my past. Through God’s grace, I know I am not the same person I used to be. I know God has freed me from many sins. I know I am growing and changing, but it never seems quite fast enough. In addition...
Our family just celebrated one year in Fresno, and I would consider it a good year. My wife, Amy, and I both started new jobs. She began working for the Fresno School District, and her new job has a steep learning curve but overall she’s been thriving. My job as a missions...
As summer winds down and fall sets in, the harried life of a new school year stirs stress in our family. I imagine it does in many other families too. New milestones are being reached: first year in high school for one child and first year in middle school for another. New routes to and...
I’ve never been very good at trust falls. You know, that team building exercise where you’re supposed to fall backwards into the arms of a partner or a group as a sign that you trust people to have your back? Yeah, I always catch myself. It’s not because I don’t...
I don’t really believe in prayer. I’m not talking about mindfulness or centering or yoga-breath-prayer or contemplation in nature—all of which have immediate, easily measurable embodied benefits. I am talking about intercessory prayer the way Jesus, Paul, and your...