Sorted by date Results 605 - 629 of 713
For the last several years, I have occasionally filled in as a substitute teacher at the school. I’ve really enjoyed the experience and have been impressed over and over at the high quality of the school in Big Sandy. Last week, I helped out washing dishes a few times in the school cafeteria. I also really enjoyed this and was impressed at how hard the folks there work to take care of our kids. It was the first week of school and the younger kids were learning the etiquette for visiting the c...
In the last several years of writing this column, I’ve mentioned my High School English teacher several times. Every time it was to talk about how much her efforts as a teacher meant to me as a student. This is particularly the case since I was a very poor student. I didn’t really try at all, but she put a effort into engaging and encouraging me. It would have been much easier to simply write me off, but her efforts made a difference in my life. A couple years ago, when I talked about this tea...
One of my favorite quotes from the boxer Muhammad Ali is about training: “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’” I have a good friend who says it a bit differently: “Training is better than trying hard.” The idea behind this is simple: the key to becoming good at anything is training. Exerting effort every day over the course of months and years accumulates into excellence that cannot be matched by putting effor...
In a few weeks, I am (hopefully) going to self publish a book through Amazon’s Kindle service. Shortly thereafter, we’ll print physical copies of the book and put them up for sale on Amazon. I am waiting on the last details for the cover art to come together, and then it’ll be a go. Since I was a kid, I have wanted to write books and have started the process many times, only to get discouraged and give up. To be honest, I am a little surprised to find myself at this stage of the process after so...
Many years ago, I briefly went to church with a person who had a gift for using words to get folks upset. This person could say a few choice sentences and make you feel defensive or belittled. They could phrase compliments in such a way that you felt worse for having received them. The worst was when they decided to be angry, in which case they used their words to bludgeon anyone who was unlucky enough to cross them. Not surprisingly, this individual quickly pushed people to one of two...
Today is my 20th wedding anniversary. Over the last 2 decades, my wife and I have traveled to nearly every state in the US. We have hiked in rain forests, climbed mountains, been lost in the wilderness, worried, laughed, cried, played, argued, and celebrated. I’ve treasured the last 7300 days that we’ve spent together. I’ve also come to realize that for all the adventures we’ve embarked on together, the thing that makes them really memorable hasn’t been the experiences themselves. It’s been...
Last year, my then 4-year old son started using a new tactic in responding to me when he get’s frustrated with my unwillingness to give him whatever he wants whenever he wants it. Specifically, he started telling me that he doesn’t like me any more or that he likes mom more than he likes me. Using affection as a lever to get another person to do what you want is manipulative. It’s not an uncommon tactic for a small child, but it’s the sort of thing that folks should grow out of pretty early....
Most mornings, I wake up at about 3:45 and turn off my alarm before it goes off at 4 AM. I read the news until 4:05, giving the coffee make enough time to brew at least one cup. I get up, read, have my coffee, and go to the gym by 5. I am a night owl. I hate getting up early. Most nights, when I go to bed, I dread getting up so early in the morning. I also dread exercising so early. I do it first thing in the morning because I have time then (and the gym is usually empty). However, I recently no...
For nearly a decade, I worked for a residential mental health facility. One of my favorite parts of that job was our annual trip to take kids to the upper parts of Minnesota, where we would canoe and camp with the clients for a week in the Boundary Waters. One year, I was working with a group of young ladies from our addiction treatment program. We were on the second day of our trip and one of our students was having trouble managing and paddling her canoe. She was sitting in the back seat,...
“Are you keeping alive anger at a person who you haven’t seen in years?” I have asked this question of hundreds of people over the years and surprisingly ‘yes’ is a far more common response than ‘no’. It’s easy to do. Someone wrongs you and you feel hurt or betrayed by it, then over the course of time, those feelings of hurt become anger and eventually that anger takes root and becomes resentment. Resentment is old anger that we hang on to. I’ve talked with folks who harbor resentment toward...
Many years ago, I worked with a guy I couldn’t seem to get along with. Whenever I had to deal with him I found myself bumping heads with him. At times, we devolved to shouting matches in the office. During that time, I came home from work fuming on many occasions, sometimes having to take long walks after I got home to cool off. During one such walk, I decided that I should spend time praying about the ongoing conflict and the other guy. It wasn’t my first instinct and I was not particularly for...
GK Chesterton once wrote that if you were sitting in a restaurant and a rhinoceros was to enter the establishment, the rhino would have a great deal of power in the situation. It could knock people around, trash the place, stop business transactions, ruin the waiters’ day, etc. There is no doubt that an animal that weighs more than a ton could certainly wreak havoc in a restaurant. However, as much power as the rhino could exercise, it would have absolutely no authority. The rhino couldn’t fir...
I have been busy for the last few weeks. Between rushing around to deal with various obligations and efforts, I have hardly slowed down at all. When I have, I am finding myself tired, which prompts me to use my relaxation time for things like watching television or mindlessly surfing the internet. My energy to spend on reading or more edifying pursuits is limited. This morning, when I sat down to write this column, I discovered that my mind is blank. Coming up with ideas for topics is rarely...
Last week, my four year old son sat in my lap one afternoon and told me: “Dad, I’ve decided to be a pastor, just like you, when I grow up. I’ve started practicing already.” When I asked him how he was training to be a pastor, he told me he started highlighting in his books. I got a laugh out of this, but I also felt a bit proud. My boy knows that I spend a good bit of time reading, researching, and highlighting for sermons. My son’s typical choices for future careers are typical of little bo...
During Easter weekend, my wife planned a short trip away for our family. We traveled out to a hot springs resort, with the intent of staying for a day. Our stay was pleasant, but when it came time to drive home, we only got a few miles down the road before breaking down. Fortunately, we were able to limp the car along to the next town. Once we arrived, there was a handful of considerations to deal with, starting with getting the car fixed. In addition, we had to worry about renting a car,...
Like many others around the country, I have spent the last week complaining about the time change and the havoc it wreaks on my natural living rhythms. I tend to wake up at the same time every day, and I get tired about the same time regardless of what the clock actually says. The clock impacts my daily planning and my commitments, but it can’t change certain aspects of life. I get tired when I get tired. I get hungry when I get hungry. Reflecting on this brought to mind Solomon’s words in Ecc...
A few weeks ago, I made a peanut butter sandwich for my son for lunch. He took his sandwich with him to his room, where he ate and played. Because he’s a typical four year old, it didn’t take long before he forgot about the sandwich and wandered off to do something else. When he remembered his lunch, he returned to it and found that the dog had eaten his lunch, which he had left on the floor in his room. Frustrated, he came to me crying over his lost meal. I made another sandwich, which he too...
Parenting two small children has afforded me a terrific opportunity to watch them and learn about human nature. I have noticed that my kids are happiest in their time together when they play without regard for who gets what, who has to clean up what, etc. When they both enjoy themselves and contribute 100 percent without concern for what the other is or isn’t doing, they tend to be much happier. However, when they begin to bicker over who has to do more or what belongs to who, the result is m...
Third John is the shortest book in the New Testament. It is also one of the least appreciated. John’s short letter (only 129 words) written to a church leader somewhere in Greece. Though we don’t know the exact situation being addressed in the note, clues in the book give us a pretty good idea of what’s going on. John is writing to a church leader named Gaius, announcing his plans to visit the churches in the region for the purpose of dealing with a conflict that has arisen between him and a...
One of the most frequent complaints I encounter in pastoral counseling settings is the feeling that folks just don’t have their lives together. They aren’t doing well as a spouse, parent, homeowner, employee, etc. It’s typically the case that this applies to multiple areas of life and there is almost always at least one person they compare themselves to, saying something like: “Their life is perfect and they have everything going so well. I am struggling to get through each day, but they ar...
While I was in Jerusalem, I had the opportunity to visit the Mount of Olives. Many folks will recognize the name from the story of Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem and his arrest. During his very busy week of teaching in the capital city, he was almost constantly surrounded by crowds of people. The Mount of Olives is the spot Jesus retreated to for quiet. This is a habit we see throughout his lifetime. He walked away from the crowds that followed him for times of peace, silence, and solitude. T...
This morning, I ate my breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. I’ve been in Israel and Jordan for 2 weeks and the most impressive site I’ve visited thus far is a rocky stretch of beach a few hundred yards from the ruins of the ancient city of Capernaum. To understand why the stretch of beach was more impressive than every cathedral, ruin, monument, and mountain, it’s important to have a little context. The apostle Peter was the apostle who stood out. The man was at the center of every...
I am sitting in a hotel in Jerusalem this morning, day 4 of a two-week educational tour of Israel and the surrounding country. Yesterday, we toured the original city of Jerusalem, when it was first conquered by David. I hand always envisioned a small, flat town. In particular, this made the story of David’s infidelity with Bathsheba an odd story to comprehend. In the original account, David spots Bathsheba in the bath and decides he’d like to get to know her better. Before long, he has imp...
With the new year upon us, it’s time to decide if setting goals for the new year is a worthwhile effort. Many people I know see the new calendar year as an opportunity to start over or remake themselves or an area of their life that they’re dissatisfied with, but then struggle to accomplish total life change. This shouldn’t be surprising. Change is hard, especially major change. Last year, I set a handful of New Year’s resolutions, and I managed to accomplish a few of my goals. More importa...
Every morning, while I walk the 2 blocks from my house to my office, I try to make it a point to stop and take a moment to look at the Bears Paw Mountains from the end of my driveway. They never fail to impress me. One of the things I fell in love with about Big Sandy when I interviewed here 6 years ago was how beautiful Montana is. An odd thing has happened in the last few years: there are quite a few mornings when I am in a rush or am stressed out and I simply step over my morning ritual...