Recently, I visited a kids’ gym with my daughter and grandson—a vibrant space designed to ignite movement, imagination, and joy. From toddlers to tweens, children darted through tunnels, balanced on beams, dove into foam pits, bounced on trampolines, scaled rock walls, and swung from giant ribbons suspended from the ceiling. It was a wonderland of …
Last Christmas, our quiet neighborhood was jolted by a heartbreaking event. Years earlier, a mother of two had passed away, leaving behind a grieving husband and sons. As the boys grew and moved away for college, the father remained and the sons visited their childhood home from time to time. Most neighbors assumed the family …
Before his retirement, my dad served in the military for over two decades. I was born while he was a chaplain at the Naval Academy. A year later, on Treasure Island in California, Navy sailors held me in their laps and played with me during his sermons at the chapel. As I grew up, I …
After a spontaneous dinner out with one of our kids yesterday evening, I returned home to a text message from our neighbor. She was still rattled, texting that “two giant explosions!” in the past hour had been so loud, she thought their house was exploding. Curious, I asked for details. Turns out, a few restless …
Do you recall the last time you felt inspired to do something? When we think of things people in the Bible were inspired to do, we often recall Moses parting the Red Sea, David fighting Goliath, Joshua leading an army around the walled city of Jericho, or Jesus feeding the multitudes. We may also recall …
Some people love the movie The Princess Bride. It’s not something I’d personally watch again, but it does have one particularly memorable monologue. Forced to wed the bad guy, the heroine stands before a hapless priest—unable to pronounce his Rs or Ls—who begins the ceremony with his famous speech: “Mawage is wot bwings us togeder …
Early in the morning, as I was exercising in the basement, I heard a strange sound—something lightly tapping against a window. Initially, I assumed it was a squirrel attempting to steal birdseed from the feeder outside the kitchen window. But then, something caught my eye. I stopped exercising and slowly approached the little culprit. Outside …
Our youngest grandson loves bath time! When he’s fussy, squirmy, and unhappy, neither his toys nor cuddles seem to soothe him. But the moment he slips into his baby tub, everything changes. His face lights up with smiles as he kicks, splashes, and plays with his bath toys, as though all his cares have been …
As noted earlier, my mom recently moved into assisted living to be near family. It was a good decision and she’s starting to reap its benefits, some of which include her getting to see grandchildren, and even one of her great grandchildren, in person! She also never has to cook, clean, or do her own …
We took off over a month from writing this blog due to unexpected changes in our lives. As is His style, God is working it all together for good. But my (Carrie’s) mom suddenly landed in the hospital in her home state. Within two whirlwind weeks (for which I flew there), she got a pacemaker …
Do you ever get annoyed when it turns out you were wrong? I find my assumptions, conclusions, and guesses to be wrong more often than I’d like. It’s humbling. In the business world, one “soft skill” employers like to see in a prospective employee is a willingness to learn. I’m sorry to say that for …
What does the name Thomas Edison bring to mind? Or Abraham Lincoln? How would you describe Walt Disney, Lucille Ball, or Michael Jordan? If you read their biographies, you’ll find they all had one thing in common—multiple failures! Yet when someone mentions a name like Oprah Winfrey, no one says, “Oh, you mean that woman …
