The other day, I received a message from a friend I haven't seen or spoken to in several years. In his message, he filled me in on all the things he's been dealing with in his life and business since we last spoke. The past few years have been a particularly challenging time for him, and he's had to make many changes. At the end of his message, he brought up the fact that he believed he owed me money from something I shared with him a while back, and he wanted to settle that debt. To be honest with you, that was the furthest thing from my mind, and as I thought about it, I wasn't under the imp ..read more

Most people think they'd like an easy life, or at least an easier one than they're living at the present. But would you really want that? I used to think I wanted that, but over time, my opinion has definitely changed. I want a good life. I want a purposeful life. I want a life that's lived well, but I don't necessarily want it to be easy. I have met people who have been handed relatively easy lives, and they don't impress me. More often than not, they strike me as shallow and self-absorbed. They don't make much of a contribution, don't know how to do very many things, and they tend to be emot ..read more

When I was in sixth grade, I went shopping with my grandmother and her sister, my great-aunt, who was like a bonus grandmother to me. In their later years, they shared a home, and whenever my sisters and I would visit, they would plan all sorts of fun things for us to do, including regular visits to the stores on Public Square in downtown Wilkes-Barre, PA. One afternoon while we were shopping, we came across a watch counter in one of the stores that featured a brand of watches that was trendy in the mid to late 1980s. If you remember Swatch watches, they were "must-have" items at the time, and ..read more

Where I grew up, parking was often a problem. You've probably noticed that in many parts of the country where the cities and towns were developed before the automobile came into use, it can be challenging to find a place to park a car. That was very much the case where I lived as a young man, so when I bought my first car, I was often forced to figure out creative solutions as to where to park it, especially because we lived on a main road without street parking. One option I utilized for a while was to park my car in a neighborhood that was one block away from our home. I found a spot on the ..read more

The other day, I was having a conversation with my daughter about the importance of living out our faith in public while also staying relatable and relational in the process. She completely agreed, then we discussed the challenge it can sometimes be to do that well. In the midst of that discussion, she described a friend of hers who struggles with that balance. As she described him to me she said that it's clear that he takes his faith seriously, which she certainly appreciates, but at the same time, he has a bad habit of making people feel awkward and condemned. Instead of engaging in friendl ..read more

Are you a perfectionist? Do you ever struggle with that perspective? Are you trying to get everything right, perform at the highest level, and make it through life mistake free? A few years ago, I had a really deep conversation with a member of our family who struggles with perfectionism. I felt compassion for her immediately because this is something I have often struggled with as well. As she shared her story and struggles with me, she also revealed one of the biggest downsides to perfectionism and I'll explain it to you right now. If you're trying to be perfect in your own strength, and thi ..read more

As we grow older, I think it's wise and logical to treat our bodies with more intentional care than we may have done in earlier seasons of life. The older we get, the more sensitive we grow to temperature changes, unsafe walking conditions, or activities that run the risk of causing us physical harm. I don't blame anyone who makes wise choices that result in the care of their physical body. At the same time, I also admire people who aren't afraid to take certain calculated risks that might result in physical discomfort, but have the potential to serve others for their greater good. Let me give ..read more

*Read Ruth 4:13-22 In our home, there are a few unique pieces of furniture. They aren't necessarily unique because they were expensive or came from some exquisite place in the world. Their unique nature is connected more to their story and the people in our family who gave them to us. One of those unique pieces of furniture is an old coal stove that's right by our front door. It's about the size of an end table, and when I was a child, my grandparents had it in their entryway. As a child, I was fascinated by it, so my grandmother made sure it was given to me when she passed away. Apparently, i ..read more

*Read Ruth 4:1-12 Changing the oil in your car is a task few of us enjoy doing, but we know that failing to do so at regular intervals will cause our engines to fail, so we do it. I used to change the oil in our vehicles at home with the goal to save a little money, but in recent years, my pattern has changed. Somewhere along the way I came to believe that the time involved, the aggravation of the task, and the subsequent need to properly dispose of the oil didn't justify the small amount of money I was saving to change my own oil, so I started paying a local business to do it instead. But tha ..read more

The following is a guest post from MJ James who blogs at theburnedoutbusinessmom.com. Have you ever truly unpacked the Sermon on the Mount? My Pastor likes to call it Jesus’ inaugural address. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, fo ..read more