God's Pattern in Life's Pieces

Parents make key decisions when raising children. Some of this revolves around what foundational priorities are set. For Mary and me, this anchored itself in the importance of telling the truth. Disobedience and defiance weren’t overlooked, but they were secondary to trustworthiness. And now, over forty years later, I still think this prevailing priority is […]

It was roughly a year ago that I wrote about a visit to Maryland in which I was able to spend time with my brother Sam, and his wife Mary Gayle. I’ve reflected often on that time, and the tenderness and beauty it invited. I journaled then that Sam’s cognitive abilities were under assault. And […]

Over the last six months Mary and I have been witnesses to our grandkids’ competitive participation in hockey, soccer, flag-football, softball, tennis, volleyball, basketball, and baseball. As I sit and watch, often with a churning gut, I find myself whispering prayers. The primary theme of these conversations with the Almighty revolve around some aspect of […]

The name Carlos Portillo first came to my attention a few weeks ago in an email. The email had to do with a camp scholarship request that Carlos was making for a camp that our Suncoast YFC chapter was organizing. This was about a day camp. Three days long. Roughly 70 young people in attendance. […]