My five-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son recently told me they didn’t believe in Santa anymore. They were suspicious of the fact that the Santa they visited every year for photos looked very different from the Asian Santa who crashed their Christmas party last year. Both...
"Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”- John 4:37-38, NIV Sometimes life as a Christian can be disappointing, especially...
Recently, I was encouraged to give meditation a try. If you had asked me to do this a few months ago, I would have been skeptical. A few years ago, I probably would have laughed outright. I’ve always been a little unsettled by silence. As a child, I lived in a windy area, and my...
Over the last few years, I’ve been through quite a journey. In prior Estuaries posts I’ve referenced how I’d burned out big time and gone through the hardest season in my adulthood thus far. But I never divulged the details of what happened. Kind of evasive...
While I was having lunch with a friend who is also single, we began to talk about the difficulty of remaining in Silicon Valley because of rising rents, gas prices, health insurance, car repair, and those unexpected financial issues that arise every now and then. I mentioned an article I...
Some people are gifted with knowing themselves thoroughly and confidently. I, on the other hand, love the color gray for a reason. I often don’t know what I want to do or eat, and I look to others to help me decide. Over the years I have struggled with understanding who I am, why I...
My earliest memory of hearing the question was during first grade. I don’t remember the context exactly, but it might have been while I was walking to lunch or playing foursquare. Or maybe I was asked while I was waiting for the school bus or while running in the large grassy...
I am tired of living scared, a life I have been living since infancy. As a youngster, I adopted the role of the “good boy” in an attempt to gain approval and reduce tension in my family. I wanted to please rather than cause problems in response to my mom’s...
I am a big fan of drive-thrus. They are easy to access and have a good selection of fast food. Sure, I wish there were healthier or more diverse drive-thru options like good sushi or an authentic taqueria, but I do love that dollar menu at McDonald’s. And when a new...
The River Church Community has been my one and only church home. I started attending back when we met in the gymnasium of the Sunnyvale Community Center. I didn’t know anyone, so I appreciated how the dim lighting enabled me to slink out unnoticed as soon as service was over. My...