The God Who Pursues

The God Who Pursues

A few weeks ago, my family got up early on a Saturday morning to run the Special Kids 5k. It is a huge and wonderful event in our city. Thousands of runners at the “butt crack” of dawn, gather to run and to raise money for this amazing organization. So, this year our whole family… Continue Reading

Well, Here We Go!

Well, Here We Go!

Well, Here We Go! I love Jennifer, my daughter-in-law but she cries a lot. Especially when it comes to watching her boys grow up. That’s okay. I usually cry with her. I remember a few years ago we had a tearful moment. Jon-Mical who was 7 was having his first official sleepover at a friend’s… Continue Reading

Corona, Christ, and Cottage Cheese

Corona, Christ, and Cottage Cheese

I love cottage cheese. There is just something about a nice dish of cottage cheese in the evening, doused with a shake or two of seasoning salt, and maybe garnished with a couple of Ritz crackers that spells the good end of a long day. Doris likes a cup of green tea. James Bond preferred… Continue Reading

Outrun vs Outgrow

Outrun vs Outgrow

Larry Thompson was a big, fat, bully. I was in the 6th grade and the new kid in school at Rock Hill Elementary. My first day, at recess, a gang of boys (I use that term loosely, gang, not boys. I’m sure they were boys. Well, most of them.) cornered me on the playground and… Continue Reading

Change

Change

On December 27, 2019, my youngest son, Jacob, was a motorcycle riding, jet airplane flying, tattoo wearing, guitar playing, pistol-packing connoisseur of life. If it was exciting, Jacob tried it. If it would scare the daylights out of your parents, Jacob did it. If it was an adventure, Jacob was all for it. On December… Continue Reading

Influence

Influence

I was a young associate pastor at a great university church in Ohio. The first Sunday that I was there, a long, lean, lanky guy, about my age, came up to me and said, “Hey, I’d like to get breakfast with you this week.” His name was Sam Riggleman and he was the baseball coach… Continue Reading

Advent Again

Advent Again

December 1, 2019 Advent 2019 We spent the weekend with Jon-Mical and Jakson, our grandsons. Jon-Mical is 11, almost 12 and in that awkward place between the silliness of a child and the self-imposed seriousness of a young man. Jakson, on the other hand, at 8, is right in the middle of the joyous delight… Continue Reading

Reflecting

Reflecting

Today would have been my father’s 87th birthday. He died a couple of years ago after a battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, basically black lung disease without the coal mining. I was with him a lot in the weeks before he died, something for which I am grateful, but left his house in northern Kentucky… Continue Reading