Things I’ve Learned

Why I Bought a Fountain Pen

Some of this may be hard for you to believe. I promise it’s true. These things really do happen outside the walls of your house. I was a teacher in St. Louis city for two years; I then took a job at Cahokia High School for two years. Sometime in there, I bought my first…

Living Faithfully can be Intimidating

We moved to the city of St. Louis in order to change the world through public education. Every one of my preconceived notions about that decision eventually fell flat. I cannot express how wrong I was about so much in my life at the time. We did find a good church, however, and we made…

Serve God Better for Life

I battled headaches for a decade. Once or twice a week I would get one. If something was happening that day that I needed to be present for, I would take an Excedrin. I always hated doing it, but I do have responsibilities, you see. I thought the issue was diet initially, so I stopped…

The Water Bottle Story

So (to start out like Beowulf), I didn’t want the kids drinking out of plastic water bottles anymore, so I bought them some different ones from Amazon. They were very nice, and everyone was excited about it, myself included. More background: you have no idea how “on the fence” I was about Bennett playing basketball.…

The Truest Verse in the Bible

A quick caveat: the whole Bible is breathed out by God and therefore true. I mean something different, I hope you see that. Do you spend energy to hear the other side of someone’s story? You should. I often find that one person, through no fault of their own, will tell a very different story…

Bravery Begins at the Dinner Table

I made up this slogan sometime last year to motivate my son to eat the food on his plate (his sisters don’t have this problem). It’s shown a little success (not as much as other methods), but I still think the phrase is fantastic and I repeat it often. James chapter three talks about the…

Who Should Do the Dishes?

The children, obviously. But, before the children are able, and after they fly the coop, who should do them? They have to get done, you know. Now, I’m not universalizing anything below. I do think there are some universal principles underlying what I’m about to write; you can decide what they are. I had the…

It’s a Wonderful Life

I was in high school when I first saw the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. I watched it with my girlfriend, and we just watched it again with our children last night. A local theater had a showing, so we got to enjoy this masterpiece on the big screen. I’ve identified with George Bailey since…

A Man Skilled in His Work

“Do you see a man skilled in his work?He will stand before kings;He will not stand before obscure men.” Proverbs 22:29 I got frustrated with myself this week. Consider this post as bread, fresh from the oven. I learn things in real time, too. I’ve been infatuated with the idea of being a pastor since…