A Daughter’s Journey
As a parent of teens, I have had some difficult conversations with my kids. Especially my daughter when it comes to her spiritual beliefs. She is on the fence right now about what she believes, if anything, and I have learned to be comfortable with where she currently stands. You can imagine it is a difficult place to be based on my current calling, but it is where we are as a father and daughter. I love her no less. I understand where she is coming from, as I took a similar path when I was a late teen. [...]
The Fountain and the Flame: Chapter Six
A READER-DIRECTED STORY The Creator of All Things has opened a window to another world—a portal. We cannot step through this portal, but we may reach through with our minds. Concentrating, we see a young woman, Kaia, seated on a bridge of stone and ice, feet dangling over cobalt blue waters. The Creator has invited us to act as Watch-keepers over Kaia and the friends she will meet along a dangerous path that lies ahead. The Watch-keepers must work together to help Kaia make good choices. These choices will not always be easy, and Kaia may not always do [...]
What Death Cannot Steal
If you have spent any amount of time with me, there is a good chance I have told you about my grandparents. Unlike grandparents today, my grandparents did not have cutesy names. They were Papaw and Granny. My Papaw was 69 years old when I was born. He was born in 1909 and was raised during the great depression. He served in the Army during WWII, and then came home and married my Granny. He worked as a surveyor for a time, and he was a farmer. Most of his farming days were done by the time I was [...]
The Incredible Screwdriver
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. – Isaiah 55:8-9 “Use the right tool for the job,” my dad used to say, and I came to believe this with a passion. That changed years ago when my new bride, Rose, shook the foundation of my tool belief system to its core. We had just moved into our first house, a modest three-bedroom starter home still smelling of fresh paint, when she asked, “Jake. Will you help me hang some pictures?” “Of course,” I replied and went to the garage to [...]
Difficult Words of Jesus
The Gospels are some of the most encouraging and enlightening books ever written. However, they also have some of the most challenging and difficult words ever put to pen and parchment, and those are the words of Jesus. Jesus speaks in parables, and he also speaks directly to his disciples, the priestly class, Roman officials, and the people who would follow him from town to town. Many times then, and even now, his words were confusing, there were many times people walked away after Jesus spoke, but there were also many instances where people began to and continued to [...]
God’s Plan
As I turn 40 this week, I find myself fighting off constant disappointments and being distracted by all the things I thought would come to fruition by now. As special needs parents, my husband and I have tirelessly fought for the best treatments and therapies for our son in hopes that he would be “mainstreamed” by now. Being mainstreamed means that a child transitions from special education into regular education with typical peers. As I plugged away at my master’s degree years ago, I took pride in the fact that I had read all the research and positioned my [...]
The Fountain and the Flame: Chapter Five
A READER-DIRECTED STORY The Creator of All Things has opened a window to another world—a portal. We cannot step through this portal, but we may reach through with our minds. Concentrating, we see a young woman, Kaia, seated on a bridge of stone and ice, feet dangling over cobalt blue waters. The Creator has invited us to act as Watch-keepers over Kaia and the friends she will meet along a dangerous path that lies ahead. The Watch-keepers must work together to help Kaia make good choices. These choices will not always be easy, and Kaia may not always do [...]
At Least We Have Hope
Besides reading and hearing about how many have become hopeless or feel hopeless, I have also had more and more conversations about how people feel hopeless. I hear how Society is going in the wrong direction, and our morals and values are trampled upon, and our way of life is being destroyed or hindered somehow. Unfortunately, what is surprising about these conversations and the articles of hopelessness is that Christians are saying they are hopeless and that the world is hopeless. The people who are called to be the people full of hope and love are the same ones [...]
The Fountain and the Flame: Chapter Four
A READER-DIRECTED STORY The Creator of All Things has opened a window to another world—a portal. We cannot step through this portal, but we may reach through with our minds. Concentrating, we see a young woman, Kaia, seated on a bridge of stone and ice, feet dangling over cobalt blue waters. The Creator has invited us to act as Watch-keepers over Kaia and the friends she will meet along a dangerous path that lies ahead. The Watch-keepers must work together to help Kaia make good choices. These choices will not always be easy, and Kaia may not always do [...]
I Am Because He Says I Am
Ms. Rose was one of the women we would see on Wednesdays when I took my students line dancing at a senior activity center in Philadelphia. She was a sweet older lady who would sit and watch from the edge of the room as her friends took to the dance floor. Her feet had carried her through years of life and now found rest in watching others glide across the dance floor. One Wednesday with her stood out among the rest. It was Ms. Rose’s birthday. So when we walked in, I planted myself next to her, eager to wish her a happy birthday. “Happy Birthday, [...]