A uniquely American holiday, this "Thanksgiving." In 2019 America, the last Thursday in November in the United States is set aside for food, family, and these days, football. But more than 400 years ago, stories of the "first Thanksgivings" in North America tell very different tales. The remaining Mayflower settlers celebrated surviving of a harrowing…
I've picked "Papa." I am well aware that grandchildren pick their own names for their grandparents. And yes, I'll answer to whatever name my grandson calls me. But for what it's worth, I'm going to at least suggest to the little guy that he call me "Papa." That's not "Paw-Paw," as they say it in…
Graceful, yet purposeful. Whimsical at times, and yet powerful. Exclusive to each individual as a fingerprint. And more tangible evidence of God's creativity when he made each of us, different one from another.
Let's redirect our thoughts away from what our culture deems important, which is often non-reality, to what is real, and what is true.
We spent some of the waning hours of 2018 saying goodbye to one of my best friends' 95-year-old father. In 2018, I was privileged to join in the celebration of home-going for the fathers of two of our dearest friends. I also said a final goodbye to my own dad. My friend had the God-given…
You know that thing you knew would happen, you just didn't know when? That's happening to me, right now. And whenever this kind of thing happens, I hear the voice of the inimitable Nathan Lane, as Timon the meerkat in Disney's The Lion King, in his best street-wise Brooklyn accent: It starts. For Timon and…
This post records my memories from the time that God auditioned my wife and I to be parents of a disabled child - at least in hindsight, that's what it looks like. He knew all along what would happen, and how we would respond.
Has the weight of just a thought ever taken your breath away? Happened to me just this morning. Maybe it's the fact that my daughter's wedding is now less than two months away, and she was in town this past weekend for her first bridal shower. Maybe it's this fact that this afternoon, my wife…
What does real courage look like to you? To me, right now, it looks like a sister-in-law who is going through cancer treatment for a second time in 10 years. It's knowing the suffering she's sure to face during the treatments, and choosing to go through them anyway, because the desired result is the best…
I know I've written a lot about my daughter who had a traumatic brain injury (the youngest), and my son who has Down syndrome (the oldest). But God has blessed my wife and I with two other children as well, and I'd be remiss if I didn't write about them, too. Our two middle children,…
