A Time to Laugh

Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation [...]

I’ve been keeping a running tally over the last several months because it’s usually the case that Grant and I sit agape during church. Our collective jaws drop, we nudge each other, point and nod and giggle, and then I scribble and he iPhone-taps it all down so that we can remember.
This Message outside of [...]

If you’ve spent any time talking with me over the last 5 years, you know that I am a big Jeff VanVonderen fan. And I’ve never even seen his TV show! It was VanVonderen that began to clear out the legalistic cobwebs in my own head. But I’ve said that before.
I know now why VanVonderen’s [...]

I love gardening. Well, I love it in the Spring. And the Fall. I just about hate it in the South Carolina heat.
We did our spring planting last week — just in time for this week’s frost. Doh! We lost a few tulips, but we didn’t lose the tomatoes I foolishly planted too soon. And [...]

But even in my re-telling this wanting-to-be-forgotten story, it’s revealing to find the persistent theme: God gave me good roots. Grant was my ally. He reassured and loved on me. My brother, too, was a reliable friend — honest but gentle. My dad was also a rock — ever the cheerleader.
But who was there reading, [...]

What a day that was, punkin. The day you were born.
Just this week you are starting to correctly say “milk” (instead of “rilk”), but “firetruck” is still something I’d rather we didn’t talk about in polite company.  You demand a kiss, a squeeze hug, and a ‘nuggle at every parting. You told me this morning [...]

I’m such a dork. No, really. I am. If you haven’t figured that out already. It’s okay because my parents — as lovely and as lovable as they are — are dorks too. So I come by it honestly. And they love me.
Maybe everybody’s a dork and only a few of us admit it and [...]

Snow days are great. You get to spend the whole day with your favorite sweetie and your brood! The outdoors are so bright that you need to shade your eyes from the glare. All the winter greyness is covered with a beautiful sparkling and pristine blanket straight from Heaven. It’s the meterological version of Grace.
When [...]

Given the Great Recession of 2009, Michael, I’d hang on to my tuppence too!
In the 1960s, Douglas MacGregor codified his Theory X (and Theory Y) management style. Theory X had already dominated for sometime. It doesn’t take too many trips to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village to figure that out. Industrialization demanded a [...]