When I was young, I tended to see things in black and white. In many ways, my mind was closed for repairs. My understanding of Scripture was likewise rigid. Theological positions were mountains to conquer and debates to be won. I arrived at a place where I thought all my questions were...
A few weeks ago, I was catching up with a client in my headhunting business that I have known for many years. He was frustrated with his current role. Since his skill set fell outside my core focus, I held little hope that I could help as effectively and efficiently as he desired. That...
Ready for this? I’ve been running. Every other day, for five whole weeks, I’ve headed out the door in the morning for a thirty-minute run (well, walk and run). This is big news in my life. It may not seem big in our exercise culture. I have so many friends who frequent...
Easter has come and gone, and Lent is over. People are back to eating candy, drinking caffeine, and spending time on social media. How’d I do with the whole ‘giving up work’ thing? I knew cutting back on the number of hours I spent at work was necessary and long...
When I was in elementary school in the late 70s, The Cave of Time and Sunken Treasure were the books to have. The books were from an extensive series called Choose Your Own Adventure. I loved opening up these books to start an adventure. They were written in second person, with me, the...
“God doesn’t give you more than you can bear.” “There’s a reason for everything.” When I’m in the midst of a hard time, these trite sayings are not helpful. It’s no wonder that non-Christians can’t wrap their minds around the...
I met Johanna years ago on Mother’s Day at a coffee hour at the church I’d been attending for less than a month. When I joined them at their table, Johanna and her twin eight-year-old grandchildren, Andy and Randy, were enjoying bagels, jam, and fruit juice. While trying to...
I recently finished the Healing Path course for the second time, but I often find myself freezing up when people ask me what I got out of it. I have had few experiences as life changing, and yet the impact of this ministry often feels hard to put into words. This year, one of the more...
This year in particular, my extended family is being ravaged by an addiction to a certain drug. Drug addictions break families apart. The resulting conflicts, suspicion, avoidance, and bitterness take a deep toll. The drug I am talking about is the 24/7/365 cable news coverage of...
Usually when I write a post for Estuaries, I have a story in mind, complete with a beginning, middle, and end. Sometimes there’s even a nice bow wrapped around it. Today is not one of those days. In the emotional sense, you caught me on a bad hair day. But if I’m...