About this time of the new year I am remembering again what a louse I am. The New Year’s Resolutions are starting to wane. I said I would run a 1000 miles this year and I haven’t been to the gym in a week. Looks like I’ll be running 40 miles a day in June… Continue Reading
REAL REPENTANCE I was saddened to read the internet headlines yesterday that Billy Graham’s grandson Tullian Tchividjian has resigned from his pulpit at Coral Ridge Presbyterian, a high-profile church in South Florida, after admitting he had an affair. I heard Tullian speak a couple of years ago and he is a gifted communicator. I have followed… Continue Reading
I loved breakfast at church camp in Batesburg, SC. We would stand in line outside the canteen, waiting for them to unhook the screen door and let 60 sleepy-eyed, bed-headed, teenagers stumble in to heaps of sausage links, scrambled eggs, and a huge pot of grits slathered with butter. We couldn’t even spell cholesterol in… Continue Reading
I have a small cabin in the woods in Dickson County, TN. It is not much, a two room shack with battery powered lights and running water borrowed by hoses (1000 feet of them) from my neighbors well. But it is a wonderful place to escape, to get away, to be quiet and let God… Continue Reading
In the beginning (No, not that beginning!) In the beginning with Chonda and me there were four of us, me, the oldest boy followed by three stair-stepped sisters, Chonda being the usually loud one in the middle. We lived pretty close to both sets of grandparents and what seemed like hundreds of cousins, many of… Continue Reading
I was asked to conduct a funeral the other day. Some “preacher” stuff is hard to get away from. Dug out my trusty black suit. Shined up my black loafers. Put on a nice, freshly pressed white shirt. (Thank you Doris.) And pulled out a nice, appropriate tie. That’s when it happened. All of a… Continue Reading
We are blessed I know to be able to play such an active role in the lives of our grandsons. Doris keeps the boys every day at their house while Josh and Jennifer teach school. Jon-Mical, who is 5, attends pre-k school across the street but Jakson, 2, stays with Mimi all day. This morning… Continue Reading
“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not… Continue Reading
Twelve years ago Josh and Jacob decided to get me the Christmas gift of my dreams. I have always wanted a chocolate Lab, a beautiful dog, as noble in its stature as it is gentle in its demeanor. Just before Christmas in 1997 the boys came walking in with a brown bundle of fur, complete… Continue Reading