I did not grow up with a family that took regular vacations. It was a luxury of time we did not have on a dairy farm that operates with milkings twice a day, every day. I can remember going on four distinct vacations with members of my family. When I was 8 years old...

When we walk it is usually to just get from one place to another. But there are other times we walk when the point is not so much the destination, but the walk itself. Walking is a great way to clear your head or work through a problem. Some walk for exercise and...

Do you remember the first time you ever saw the ocean? I am not sure how old I was, but I will never forget standing on the edge of the shore staring drop-jawed at the endless Atlantic before me. With absolute awe I looked out amazed at the vastness before me and for...

  As if life is not confusing enough with all of our choices, I want to extend to you one more choice: considering signing up for a new blog our church will be publishing: "2020 Vision" and you can find it at www.2020vision.faithlabserver.com/. Once you enter the...

Johnny Cash; I still miss him. He passed away in 2003. Most any kid in the rural South for the last sixty years was raised at least in part on Johnny Cash. From an early age our children were introduced to his music, sometimes against their will, when we would take...

When I was a teenager and in the middle of self-absorbed angst I counted the days until I could move out of the house and live on my own. Within weeks of my high school graduation I fulfilled part of that plan by moving to Atlanta to begin a fresh journey as an art...

The urge wells up within me whenever the days are warm and the skies are sunny. It simply is not much fun riding around in a car with the windows rolled up, the air-conditioner humming, and NPR broadcasting. To allay this desire for asphalt freedom I will play U2 or...

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) Do you remember when you first discovered that the world, the earth is a beautiful place? Perhaps you were on a family vacation and you were gripped by exploding autumn colors in the...

Preachers love stories – hearing them; telling them; sharing them; and even – if necessary and it is good for the kingdom’s sake - making them up! From this preacher, you will not likely hear me tell a golf story. I have never played the game and outside of knowing...