In my newsletter a four years ago, I recommended we periodically check our credit reports. This is a wise move in order to correct reporting errors and catch possible identity theft. Other finance-related initiatives include making an annual budget, having life insurance, establishing an emergency fund, and planning for the future. On the health front […]
We Need to Order Our Priorities With Intention and Do What Matters Most Whether we realize it or not, we form priorities to order our lives. For most of my adult existence my number one priority has been God. Though I held this out as my ideal, sometimes, perhaps too often, my actions didn’t live […]
Men Flounder When They Lack Godly Examples to Follow I recently blogged about a felt need I have for a spiritual role model. Although I presently lack one, I have had them in the past. Almost all have been female. That’s not a complaint just an observation. I’m thankful for these women who have guided […]
Don’t Miss It For the past four months my wife and I have been living with our kids while we are between houses. In the summer we stowed most of our belongings in a couple of storage pods and loaded the remaining essentials onto a moving van. As we considered what we would need and […]
As a college freshman, my son’s dorm celebrated November by setting aside their shaving gear for the entire month. They called it “No-Shave November.” Though the purpose was to raise cancer awareness, I suspect they just did it for fun. My son embraced the challenge, relishing the comradery with his dorm mates as they tried […]
Say a Pre-Church Prayer One of the practices my wife and I followed when we visited 52 churches was to pray before we headed out the door. This seems simple enough and something we should have always done, but praying prior to church was a practice we seldom did, more likely skipping it than remembering. […]
Reviewed by Peter DeHaan Each day we make hundreds of decisions, such as getting on a bus or getting off a bus. Some of those choices have lifelong consequences. Such is the case with Ben Walker (Kevin Sorbo) in the movie What If…. His bus ride sent him on a path in the wrong direction, […]
The Hornet’s Sting I thought my son had left for work, so he surprised me when he bopped into my office. “Don’t worry, Dad. I’m all right, but…” He went on to say that hornets stung him as he opened his car door. He showed me the top of his head to prove the severity […]
Most churches in the United States structure themselves around the nuclear family. The mindset of these churches assumes married couples; their programming assumes children. While covering the majority of attendees in most congregations, this ignores several overlooked groups. First, there are childless couples. Some are childless by circumstance. Each time there’s a plea to serve […]
I’m fortunate to have many valued friends in my life. Some of us get together once a month for our writers critique group, where we help each other improve as writers. Collectively, we write non-fiction, memoir, poetry, and an array of fiction. Regardless of the genre, the important thing is that we encourage one another […]