I grew up in the remote village of Nano in Togo, West Africa, from 1983 to 1994, which allowed me to witness the final years of traditional village culture before the modern West crept in. Life in rural Africa requires a lot of hard work, and that includes the kids. They had little time for play and relaxing. Their life was filled with chores. One of my friends, a young village girl named Lamis, helped her mother sell beanballs in the local market. Lamis looked forward to market days. On Sunday afternoons, our family would head to the market to visit Lamis and purchase beanballs. I loved watch ..read more

This coming weekend, I will be celebrating my 50th birthday. I can remember thinking just how “old” 50 was when I was a teenager. Ancient almost. And it seems like just yesterday that I was turning 30, but the years keep ticking away… and here we are. I’m not scared about it or feeling like this is the end of all my good living. In fact, I have realized when you get older and wiser, that’s sometimes when the really good living begins as you just make better choices for yourself and your loved ones. But I am stuck thinking that there are likely more years behind me than ahead of me and wonderin ..read more

“Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you, it will.” These are the words Yoda uses to teach Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back, imploring his young learner to resist the dark side of the force and remain in the light. It’s an important lesson… but I think the sage Jedi might be missing the picture here. Because if there’s any theme in the Star Wars, it’s redemption. For just a few examples: Han Solo is a smuggler and a crook but chooses to selflessly join the Rebel cause and becomes a hero. Lando Calrissian betrays Han but later helps rescue ..read more

One of the things that makes jazz music popular is its ability to break out of traditional “music rules” and use unexpected notes or elements in its structure, and no one utilized this like the legendary Miles Davis. Davis was called a ‘one-take’ musician. He would intentionally not give his band members the songs they would perform until the day of the show. He wanted their performance to be spontaneous with intentional mistakes. He loved live-sounding music that had an unpolished quality to it. Even when recording an album, unlike other musicians who worked to try to make it sound perfect, h ..read more

As a coach, I found it incredibly important that each player knew their role. Each player’s role was crucial to the success or struggles of our team. A basketball team with 12 players who embrace and embody the role they were given and suited for is a team that succeeds to the highest levels. As a pastor, I encourage each person in our church to embrace their role in the church and work together as the body of Christ to reach more people who will join the journey with Jesus for eternity. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. Fo ..read more

I would’ve never expected it, but the most important lesson I’ve learned so far in 2024 came from a car accident… and it was my fault. In mid-January, I was leaving my neighborhood just like I do every morning and got caught at the same annoying stoplight as always. Only this time, my tires found on a patch of black ice and my car continued to scoot forward, despite me repeatedly and desperately jamming on the brake. I was helpless as my car nudged onward and connected with the back of the car in front of me. A combination of panic and despair washed over me. What was this going to cost? What ..read more

Dolphin DeedsPelorus Jack was first spotted in 1888 guiding ships through a dangerous channel in New Zealand. Jack would swim alongside the ship for about twenty minutes, leading them past sharp rocks and tight corners. No one knew how Jack learned to do this, but ship captains began to trust him so much that if they did not see the dolphin, they would wait until he appeared. There wasn’t a single shipwreck while he guided them. In 1904, a sailor on the SS Penguin tried to shoot the dolphin, but Jack fortunately survived. When the New Zealand government found out, they passed a law to pro ..read more

It was a scene I couldn’t have imagined just twenty-four hours earlier: my sisters, their husbands, my husband, and I all flat on our faces before the Lord crying out for the life of our mom in a rental cabin deep in the woods of Maine in the 2AM darkness. It was a shattering conclusion to what had been a wonderful family vacation. An hour earlier, my sweet mom had fallen down a steep flight of stairs, and unbeknownst to us, had broken her neck in two critical, potentially lethal, places. After what felt like an eternity, the ambulance had found its way to us, and my parents were headed to the ..read more

Last year, about this time, it seemed I had a mystery on my hands. I was in the habit of getting up in the morning, drinking coffee, and reading my Bible. However, I was in a rut in my faith life. I was feeling low, forgotten, and without purpose. But I was in the habit of starting my morning this way, so I just continued without much enthusiasm. One morning I opened my Bible to find that my bookmark was moved to the first page of the book of Hebrews. I thought it was odd but just returned to my previous page. The next morning, I opened my Bible and again my bookmark was on the first page of H ..read more

When I was 17 years old, I landed a job as the Easter Bunny at the mall in my hometown of Grand Island. It was a six week gig that a friend and I shared. One of of us would be in the bunny suit and the other would be the bunny’s helper. It was honestly one of the most fun jobs I’ve had despite the 400 degree heat in the suit and the water/fresh air breaks that were needed every hour. At that age, I didn’t grasp just how iconic the Easter Bunny was to the kids that would come to visit. I loved all the hugs that I would get, and the kids that were so excited to see me that they could barely stan ..read more