Blog
CORNER OFFICE
...a pinecone from the Grand Canyon. ...the cyrillic "Pilgrim" branded water bottle from a Russian convenience store.
...the fishing buoy from the beach on the Barents Sea where Yura and I made a bonfire.
JAILBREAK
A few painful question leaked out of my lost and wandering heart 15 years ago. "What did you create me to do?" and "Will you give me one thing I can do really well for you?" Beyond the joys and challenges of my most important occupation as a loving husband and father, this poem, a simple and heartfelt reflection of my heart's most enduring desires, is his answer to the ever-present question of my calling.
OUT OF THE SCABBARD
Out of the scabbard of the night, by God's hand drawn, Flashes his shining sword of light, And lo, -the dawn!
-Dawn by Frank Dempster Sherman
BIGGER IS BETTER. Part 1
When I was 10 years old I payed good money to see Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark nine (9) times in the theater. Regular price was a whopping $1.25 but the matinee was only $.75, leaving money for a soda. That Summer I carried a makeshift whip at my side and changed my name to Indiana.
LITTLE LIGHTS
In defiance of darkness' historic claims on me, I chose to install lights in my backyard today instead of letting my joy be stolen by the pressure of preparation for an upcoming mission. My heart's ache and desperation, historically addressed by striving and over-preparation, found true healing today by stringing up little luminescent reminders of what's to come
WE STAND ALONE TOGETHER
It doesn't work for a man to walk alone.
When the idea was first proposed that God designed a man to walk in close fellowship with other men, I quickly dismissed it. Through the use of its masculine caricatures, Hollywood had me convinced early on
THE WOOKIE
On Sunday night, after over a year's worth of digging my heels in, I felt the Father say "Go with it". Meaning... "Get your daughter the dog she's been begging for." So I went with it.
NITROUS JOY BOMB
I snapped this shot of myself right before the doctor began carving the roots out of my #19 molar. I sent it to my wife with a love note to say "Wish you were here." To help patients relax, the nurse offers a few amenities, including a thick blanket, a comfy leather reclining chair, drugs
FEEDER ROAD
"Let's not do today" was my first involuntary thought as the alarm clock made its callous announcement. There are days you hate before they even happen. Today promised only slog, and the need to deal with
STRENGTH FOR SONS
I've recently been medicating myself with the adventures of Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman in "Long Way Round", a 10 episode documentary on an around the world motorcycle adventure I wish I could be on right now. Netflix has been my night time cocktail
A THIN PLACE
I was skeptical when I first learned we'd be getting lessons in Arctic survival from a Lutheran priest. But there we were, with snow all around and the tundra sticking it's face up through the remaining mask of Winter.
A NEW BROADCAST
On Christmas Eve, 1906, at 2100 hours, the first live broadcast of the human voice occurred, crossing miles of ocean to transmit something never before heard into the earphones of a few surprised shipboard radio operators along the Eastern seaboard.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Fast forward a quarter of a century and you will find me coaching soccer to 11 year old boys and 9 year old girls...
BEAVER WOOD LEADS ME TO JESUS
There are moments when beauty hurts. Sitting with my bare feet in the cold running water I watched my kids frolic. We'd been here catching bugs and other critters for a while to stretch our legs after hundreds of miles on the road. We needed to carry on if we wanted to cross the continental divide while it was still light. But this small stream had exactly what I wanted.
USING THE F WORD MORE
I recently read a quote from a book by John Ortberg defining leadership as "... the art of disappointing people at a rate they can stand." In light of the last several years of my own personal journey, this feels like the most vivid and realistic picture of leadership I have heard yet. After a friendship of many years someone very close to me, both personally and professionally, became disappointed with me. Disappointment grew to resentment and on to abandonment. The way he left was both painful and public. I can't recall a time in my life when the voices of failure and disappointment have been so loud or felt more true.
LOOKIN' FOR LOVE
She is thin. She is organized. She fits in my pocket. She can be silenced. She brings balance to the force. She's been my obsession for about two months.
Sailing into the Wind
I am a sailor, and one of the questions that I get asked when out on the water is, “how does a sailboat sail into the wind?” It is a great question, and one of the marvels of sail design. Without going into too much detail, it can be boiled down to physics.
BAIT AND SWITCH
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." -MT 13:44
For the bulk of my life as a believer I thought this scripture was overly dramatic. After years in the church I'd seen hundreds of well-meaning, dutiful Christians teaching others about their need for salvation, but few of them could convince me that the impact on their lives was akin to that of finding "treasure".
