Everything, In One Place
49 posts
The noise is intense, the cries and yelling, the pain and the sorrow. a visit to the Emergency Room has it all. Broken bones and runny noses, police and paramedics, you can find it there at the ER, including me and my son. It doesn&
Sitting. Waiting. Wondering when the lecture will be over. That one teacher, you know the one. Monotone voice. Distant glare, hands in his pockets...playing with his keys. A wonderful man. Probably good content…but I’m not “into it”. Time passes. The course ends…
“Who are you and what have you done with the man I thought I knew?” I’ve asked this question to the man I see in the mirror often over the past decade. It has become for me, as much a statement as it is
It's one of the significant misunderstandings of our century: the choice of Heaven or Hell for a life after death. The misunderstanding lives on every evangelistic track and reaction driven evangelistic approach of my lifetime. What will choose? The question of Heaven or
It's the crack of the door...that first step into the spaces and places that are so unfamiliar that we shudder under the anxiety and fear of the unknown beyond what has been so comfortable. That is the way adventures - or even simple
It’s hard to slow down. This cultures worldview of movement and progress and productivity creates a guilt in us when we stop moving, when we stop producing. When we don’t progress the way we feel like we must or others expect us to
The word that keeps coming to my mind over the past few days is “loss”. For some, these past few weeks have seen a job loss. Others have seen their health take a drastic turn or the security that they once had. Others have lost
The expectations flood in. They flood over us all. Expectations in our work, relationships, even from the countries – nations we live in. These expectations are not only present in our ever-day, they grow and become worlds and empires in themselves that develop new expectations
I was lost in a snow storm. Driving down a highway in horrendous snow squalls with no idea where I was. The roads, snow covered, lost their directive markers. The wind flying toward my front windshield creates a fear-filled, mesmerizing experiencing that dulls my
Ever felt lost? Have you ever felt confused about where you need to be or where you need to go? I walk into a store and, forgetting my list at home, feel aimless in figuring out my purpose and what I am supposed to be
What if we were actually kind to one another? It's a call to communicate the love and grace of God to others. What if we actually focused our attention on being, and then acting out kindness. We think we do, but our tone
I really don't like uncertainty. It makes me anxious when I don't know what is going on and where things are headed. There are times when we seem to go through one episode after another of incredible unexpected moments and events.
How often do we put all our hopes and dreams in the things that we see? We want to be successful. We want to find meaning in today. We want to experience love and happiness. We want to have friendships and feel belonging. None of
It’s not about me. It has to be about Jesus. That isn’t how our world works though. The world that we live in is all about what we want and need. Fulfillment and reaching out and grasping our dreams, making them reality. The
It’s hard to follow. It’s hard to be disciplined and it is hard to be a disciple. We see the words and it almost always comes back to a sense of having to “do”. Discipleship seems to correlate with doing things, accomplishing the
I am really not very good at this discipline thing. Working at something for a long period of time – actually putting effort into something for an extended season – for over an hour and more than a day or two…is hard. I hear over and
We have had some amazing rain storms in the past month! One of those rain storms just pelted our region and left everything soaking wet. No, we don't often get really bad storms in Southwestern Ontario, certainly not like the ones that we
Each of us has one. A place, a space that has significance to us. I’m talking about that place or space that reflects love, grace or a mercy that shaped you and the life you live. As we drive down specific roads in specific
Picture Day is a big deal in our house. Everyone needs to look their best. If you showed up a few minutes before leaving for school you might think we were going to wedding. Everyone puts on their best shirt and brushes their hair. They
"I can see it!" I remember yelling as we rounded the corner of the bend. We could see the sign and we knew, we just knew that we were finally there - finally at camp! I was young, yes, but even now when we
We begin our journey - our pilgrimage and, although we don't know exactly where it will take us, we know we are leaving a place of brokenness (see yesterday's post on Psalm 120). Our first thought: everything is going to work out
Sometimes the most necessary place to begin is in the misery and brokenness. It's here, in the pig pen like the lost son of Jesus' parable that the realization of our squaller and dissatisfaction with the status quo of pain and helplessness
Jesus said, “I am the true vine”. What a statement of truth and profound significance. In making this statement to his disciples the night he was betrayed and the night before he would be crucified he made clear his purpose and the direction that his
I just want to follow Jesus. I want to be an example of Christ in my home, in my community and in my work. I want to live a life dedicated to God. I feel compelled to this way of living. I really want to
I look in a mirror and I see the reflection of a man. I see the man that I am, I see reminders of the man that I was, and some days I am given the gift of a faint whisper of the man my
When I was younger in working in college ministry I often came in contact with young people who had lived their lives without their biological parents. They had either lived in group homes or foster homes, or had been adopted by families who loved them
Our world is in crisis. And I am not talking about the Covid-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic came into our lives and after we have recovered from it we will still be in deep crisis. Our world is struggling through an identity crisis and
I dropped my kids off at school today. It was a really hard drop off. It was the first of 2020.For many reasons it was difficult: they have only been attending the school for a month and it still feels really new, the environment
Parenting isn’t easy. When I was young, naive and without children of my own I thought it was, I thought it was simple.Fast forward to today and after 14 years of marriage and three boys life looks a great deal different from my
It's my birthday. I have never really liked celebrating the process of aging, but over the past couple of years I have come to realize that it can be a time of learning and growth. It has become a time for me to
I have never experienced life without a television in the house. For good or for bad my home has always had one.We knowing that learning happens through the television screen, but I don’t think that people thought about serious life lessons being taught
What came first, the chicken or the egg? A silly question I know, but one that helps us understand this incredible thing called love. Love is this absolutely wonderful and hard thing that we chase after, long for and attempt to give others. For some
I have been journeying with Jesus for almost 25 years. I still can't believe that it has been so long. Not because I didn't expect Jesus to keep loving me, although that is amazing too, but because I can't
Have you ever felt lost? Ever felt convinced that nothing will work out and the word hope is a reminder of everything that has gone wrong in your life? I have been there. Sometimes it feels like I have been there too often throughout my
It amazes me how the seasons pass, how time moves so very quickly. I looked out the window just a week ago and saw a flood of rain coming down...so much rain. It felt as though it was just snowing. Now I tend the
Yes it's my birthday today. a number of years ago today my parents were extraordinarily blessed with the incredible gift of my presence ;). In the life of a normal person on the day of their birth they may decide to do something exciting
Risk is a favourite game of my youth. What was almost always true of a game of Risk was our ability to leave the politics and war on the game board. Life is not like the board game of Risk. Politics and war are not
Yesterday our lives were abruptly inconvenienced. A seasonal storm rolled into town and as we used to say at kids camp, "we were blessed with liquid sunshine". I love the rain but I wanted to finish planting our vegetable garden, take a walk
In a few minutes my two year old son will begin knocking on the wall to let me know that he is awake and ready to play. When I am home, it is one of my favourite parts of the day. I love seeing him
Today was track and field at my sons school and my wife and I spend the day cheering them on and encouraging them and their schoolmates. In the earlier part of the day I watched a boy fall in an 800 meter dash. It was
In our stage of life the family dining room has been converted into a play room and is always filled with amazing little boy noises like screeching and giggling. Between the Hot Wheels, Dusty planes, and Thomas trains there is always something to step on
When I became a father I thought it was natural to love your children and parenting was easy. When I married my wife I believed that marriage was simple, just love one another. Naivety at its best. What I didn't realize was how
Life can be chaotic. Even in the midst of the Advent season. Actually, especially during the Advent season. It is hard, sometimes it seems impossible, to handle everything that life throws at us. I know that I'm not the only one that struggles
It's been a rough day. Parenting has been difficult, shepherding has been hard, and by the end of the day I am feeling emotionally worn out and spiritually drained. I know that I am not the only one who has days like this.
Everyone has a wishlist for Christmas. It's time to dig into what we really hope and pray will be "under the tree". I don't have a lot of wants. Every year when my wife asks me what I would
This week we light our Advent candle symbolizing Love. We enflame a wick that was cold and dark and infuse it with the power that comes with fire. In our house we also celebrate week two focused on the promises of God, especially as it
I am constantly wondering about where ideas and concepts come from. We know from the wisdom book of Ecclesiastes that nothing is new under the sun, which always takes me on a journey of finding the origins of things. Advent is no different. Have you
Hope. Santa brings the good little boys and girls presents or so the saying goes. But Santa doesn't bring hope. The first week of Advent is all about Hope. It's also the time of the year that you hear so many
If you have grown up like so many people that I meet, the Advent season is not a known commodity. In fact you may think that the title of this blog is click bait, it isn't. When it comes to Advent it is
A Simple Reflection
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