I am graduating from seminary tomorrow and I have done a lot to accomplish it. I listened to my Dad teach me in early morning Sunday School and my Mom in Confirmation. I listened to Coach Butler, my FCA coach teach us no one is too young to serve God. I listened to excellent professors […]
05.16.2025 Graduation Read More »
Ranger, our dog, has a new enemy. For the last couple of days, a turtle will appear and slowly making his way past our little patio backyard. Once, while Ranger growled and the turtle walked by, it was joined by a cardinal sitting on our little fence, a squirrel digging in the ground below, and
05.09.25 Backyard Animals Read More »
Obrei and my apartment is under attack. Flies have been relentlessly invading for the past two days. I don’t know what type of fly these are, but they are big and nasty. We’re in a terrible arms race. As we get better at killing them, more of them come in. Where are they coming from?
Obrei and I are going on a trip this summer where we’ll fly into Canada, so I applied for a passport this week. I Googled what to do, and found a ten-step process, which was really two: fill out a form and go to an office to apply. As someone who dislikes paperwork, the form
04.25.2025: Passports Read More »
Some of the offices at Perkins seminary have strangely high ceilings. For one of my professors, I think this was a good thing. His walls were lined, floor to ceiling, with bookshelves. Many of them were double-full of books; there was a row of books behind another row of books on a shelf. More books
02.21.25 – Bookshelves Read More »
Happy National Hippo Day! Oh, that was yesterday. You learn lots of fun things being married to a Special Education Teacher. Happy Valentine’s Day! Or maybe for you this is a Happy National Singles Day! Or maybe it’s not a happy day. Holiday celebrations are always complicated. In any case, as Christians, we can always
02.14.2025 – Happy (Hippo) Valentine’s Day Read More »
This week, I read an NPR article defending Groundhog Day’s weirdness. Overall, I liked it, but it said, “Groundhog Day is the only popular American holiday that explicitly celebrates our relationship with nature and reliance on the delicate balance of the seasons.” Which… sure. That sentence belongs in an NPR article. I think we should
02.07.25 – Groundhog Day Read More »
Early in January, I took my final seminary class. I still have my internship class, but this was my last traditional course. It was one of the best classes I’ve had. We spent an intensive week learning about the Holy Spirit from an exceptional professor. However, as often happens, the learning between the lessons proved
Gracious God, we gave you thanks for the time we have enjoyed, the food we have eaten, for all the work that prepared our meals, and for the people with whom we shared our celebrations. Thank you for all your blessings this year, and give us a spirit of peace, hope, joy, and love as
11.29.24 – A Post-Thanksgiving Prayer Read More »
A couple of years ago the Dallas Mavericks were terrible. I loved watching them. I felt no anxiety watching them fail because there were no expectations of success. Instead, I could just cheer on every small victory, every cool play and celebrate it for what it was. Then the Mavs drafted Luka Doncic and
11.15.24 – In Favor of Caring Read More »
Why was Jesus not a political revolutionary? He could have overthrown the Roman Empire and set up a better state. It would have solved a lot of problems. To be clear, Jesus was political. He was not partisan, meaning he did not advocate a particular political party, but he was political. Politics are just
11.08.24 – Politics and Power Read More »
Wonder-Woman, the 2017 movie set during World War I, broke a major trend. For years, superhero movies had gone one of two ways. Either they were very tongue in cheek, undercutting serious moments with humor or they were dark and brooding. Think Marvel compared to the recent Batman movies. Patty Jenkins, the director of Wonder-Woman
11.01.24 – Cheesy Cliches Read More »
