Now that I am back to the states, it is time to get back into a routine. Time to go back to work. It is always difficult after returning from vacations, times of relaxation and recreation, as well as matters of the heart, whose issues impact eternity. Paying the bills is just not as exciting as feeling rested or if you might have done something that influenced someone’s path of their life or their eternal standing. Yet it is where…
Today is my oldest son (and child’s) birthday. I will never forget that big black nurse bouncing out of the delivery room doors at NAS Jax hospital so long ago. “You’ve done got yourself a football player. He is 8 pounds, 13 ounces.” The memory of that moment will never go away. I was proud to have a son who would share my name and hopefully my aspirations. Asking for your child to live your aspirations was the problem and…
As I write this, I am on the first leg of my 28-hour journey back home from Uganda. When you add the 9 hours I have been up prior to this flight, it means 37 long hours of just wanting to be home. At the same time, there were deep and rich rewards from the journey. Watching the pastors, teachers and regional overseers dance, worship and express their pure delight in what we all offered was priceless. In many ways…
Over the last 30+ years I have spent a fair amount of time studying the Bible. I was deeply taken back by my first professor and advisor at Luther Rice. His name was Dr. William Beck. In all my life I had never met anyone like him and am not sure that I ever will again. He was the gentlest and most knowledgeable person I had ever met when it came to the Hebrews and their history. He made the…
While I am traveling, especially with long layovers, my parents often come to mind. When they do, I often think about how differently I have raised you than they raised me. I like to think that I am somewhat of a mix between them – and I am in many ways. However, much of my path and your lives were shaped with Tracy’s input due to my travels and work schedule. And of course she carries a different type of…
While your formation as an individual occurs continuously, there are some things I would like you to know that will help you understand the process and develop it to a greater level if you have the desire. Over the years I have not met many people who did not want to make their life better or achieve greater goals or objectives than they had at any moment in time. There is really nothing wrong with that, unless it becomes an…