From Boggle to Beauty

March 31, 2017

The letters dance, the timer gets flipped, and the competitors unleash their minds to construct words out of the clutter. Boggle. Sixteen cubic dice settle into individual boxes inviting a thoughtful evaluation and assembly into words of varying lengths. Chaotic possibilities finding order. Meaninglessness finding definition. A game with a prophetic voice. A metaphor waiting […]

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Cinque

March 24, 2017
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I spotted a 3 by 5 card on the desk in our hotel room. The importance of the evening was not lost on me. Our first getaway dinner in Athens. We had spent the day doing what tourists do in Athens… history class in hiking shoes. And now the search was on. With wifi in […]

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The Day I Met Heaven

March 17, 2017

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3) Two weeks ago I met Heaven. Seriously. I met her. In fact, not only did I meet her, I also held her; I sang Happy Birthday to her… and I had the privilege of praying for her. Heaven. A beautiful […]

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Light of the World

March 10, 2017

You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may […]

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Again and Immediately

March 3, 2017

Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.  And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.  And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?  It is enough, the […]

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Candidly Unprofessional

February 24, 2017

It was almost exactly nine years ago that I met Rick Voit. Like me, he was attending the 60th birthday party of my brother Robert in Orlando, Florida. Rick’s connection with Robert began while Rick was a student at New Trier High School in the north suburbs of Chicago. Robert led a Youth For Christ […]

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Amplified by Grief

February 10, 2017

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James […]

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“Well, do you know how to wrestle?”

January 27, 2017

Rowan, our three-year-old grandson, posed the question to Mary as she invited input on plans for the afternoon at our house. I have many vivid memories of interaction with my grandmother as a child, and I can unequivocally assure you that not only did I never verbalize a question like this, I never conceived of […]

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A Charlie-Sized Dream

January 23, 2017

A dream. A vision. But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands. Isaiah 32:8 In early January I read this scripture. The ink for these words came from the heart of God. I was riveted by this thought, and inspired by the concept… but with lingering ambiguity of what this looked like in practice. Then, while standing in the basement of […]

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Sunscreen and Umbrellas

January 13, 2017

“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” I live in Aurora, Colorado. On most days in our city, the sun shines. In fact, it doesn’t just shine, it envelopes us. We love it. That also means that on good […]

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