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All hope isn't lost

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On November 28th, 2016, a devastating wildfire roared through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, injuring some 200 people and claiming the lives of 14 more. Economic damage estimates due to the fire, were over $500 million. To natives and visitors alike, seeing images of the charred mountains they loved, was heartbreaking. It was like nothing our generation had endured prior. All hope seemed lost.  On January 20th, 2020, the first case of Covid-19 was reported in the United States. Since that day, some 2 million people have been infected and well over 100 thousand Americans have died from the illness. To citizens and foreigners alike, seeing images of overcrowded hospitals with the sick and suffering, was heartbreaking. It was like nothing our generation had endured prior. All hope seemed lost. This past weekend, Amber and I went to Gatlinburg for a couples retreat. The group activities on Friday night were great, but the Saturday drive and hike alone together, were a...
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Reach Up

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The birds sing louder and the world is more still first thing in the morning. Sitting on the front porch alone, I sipped my morning coffee, and rocked in one of the chairs we inherited from Amber's grandparents. My mind was completely clear and uncluttered from emails and phone calls that had yet to begin. Hearing the rain begin to fall, my attention shifted to a plant in our front flower bed. Looking down, I watched as the stems of the plant stretched high into the air to catch the rain. Like arms reached upward, the petals caught the drops of rain and carried the needed water to it's core. It's almost as if the flower was uniquely designed and made to catch the life sustaining water it needed. It's not easy being a plant in a busy neighborhood. Kids occasionally stomp on you, bike tires roll over you, and the dogs are always...well, it's not easy being a plant in a busy neighborhood. However, Amber always assures the soil is fertile and the occasional Miracl...
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From Grief to Gladness

" I thought it would feel different or be easier to deal with at this point, but I still miss him everyday. " I typed those words 10 years ago tonight. It was the eve of the one year anniversary of my grandfather's death, and I was broken and lost. Not just lost like I took a wrong turn or missed my exit along life's journey, but completely and totally lost and without a compass...or hope for that matter. Alone, yet sitting in the basement of the wonderful home I shared with my beautiful wife and amazing 1 year old son, I typed the words above.  Fast forward some 3 years from that night, and you'd find me crushed and crying again. Sitting beside my wife in a hospital bed, mourning the loss of a son that was supposed to share my name, and my love of baseball. A son I'd never hold alive in this lifetime. Needless to say, it's taken  some time to type these words tonight..."I'm ok." As you read this, you may rec...
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Too Comfortable

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Finley Peter Dunne was a writer born in the mid to late 1800's. More specifically, he was a journalist, humorist, and editor with numerous Chicago newspapers. If you are a baseball fan in the least, you are no doubt familiar with the term "south paw," which refers to a left-handed pitcher. You likely did not know that Dunne is the man credited with coining the term. Born to Irish immigrants, the characters in Dunne's writing spoke with a thick verbiage and Irish accent. There is a great line from that style of Dunne's writing, which was reworded a bit, and used in the 1960 film, "Inherit the Wind." The line from the film is, "Mr. Brady, it is the duty of the newspaper to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." It wasn't until the mid 1980's that the above phrase began to show up in sermons to describe God's mercy and judgement. Uttered different ways, some versions state the "gospel" "comforts the...
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Look at the stars!

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"Hey kids, look at the stars!" From the drivers seat, I glanced up at the rear view mirror, to gauge their response. Absent any noticeable reaction, I instead saw my three kids sitting shoulder to shoulder in the back seat of my jeep, bundled up with jackets and blankets that they had each brought from home. With the top down tonight, the cold fall air stung the top of my head where hair once grew. I can't say if genetics, my kids, or an anxious mind contributed most to my hair loss, but one thing was certain, the rush of wind coming over the front windshield was anything but warm. On a whim tonight, Amber and I decided to take the kids downtown for dinner and ice cream. This is certainly not our normal Tuesday evening routine, which made the night that much more special and exciting for all of us. On the way home, I tried not to drive distracted by looking up at the night sky, but I couldn't help myself, it was beautiful. Leaving downtown, however I was somew...
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Let me tell you about my dad

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We slipped in a booth at the back of the crowded Panera Bread. As we ate lunch,  I listened as one of my friends talked about his childhood. Specifically my friend told me about his father growing up. "He was a wonderful example of a Christian man," he started. "I never looked up in the stands in all the years I played soccer, and saw an empty seat. He never missed a match. He was always there for me." I smiled listening as my friend went on and on about his dad. Then something occurred to me in that moment....my son will be having similar conversations about me in a restaurant booth somewhere many years in the future. Then I panicked. What kind of dad am I? How will I be remembered in the recesses of my son's mind?   Will my son call me a "great example of a Christian man?" Will he be able to speak about me with love and affection, and say I was there when it mattered? I've heard it said we should think about our eulogy and what we want said a...
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Breaking Up Rock or Building A Cathedral?

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At a leadership conference I attended recently, the facilitator of the afternoon session told the room the following story (paraphrased from my memory)... "A man was walking down the road when he came across another man busting up rocks with a sledge hammer. The man working in the heat of the afternoon cussed and grumbled as he broke up the large rock. When the man walking down the road stopped and asked the man what he was doing, he replied that he was busting up rocks for some stupid reason, and he couldn't wait for 5 o'clock to arrive so he could leave this awful employment and go home. The man walking down the road walked a little farther and came across another man busting up rocks with a sledge hammer. The man working in the heat of the afternoon was grumbling a bit, but didn't seem quite as ill tempered as the man he had just met. When the man walking down the road stopped and asked the man busting up rocks what he was doing, he replied he was reducing the...
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