From an early age, each of us recognized the power of words. Every parent remembers when their child learned how to say "no" because they kept saying it over and over and over. Instead of hitting another child over the head, we taught our children to "use your words" to ask for something or to express themselves. We use words to describe what is and what should be. We use words to ask questions and give answers. We string words together into sentences to tell stories or explain problems. Small words, big words. It doesn't matter -- words are powerful. We understand this because all of us have a few words we hold on to. Words spoken to us by a mom or dad, a teacher or a coach, a friend or a boss. These words are forever lodged in our memory banks. They might be the words we go back to encourage…

Over the past four weeks, I have been in Oklahoma City, Jamaica, and just returned from Felton, CA (you'll need to Google that one). In many respects, all three places are very different -- geographically and demographically: In Oklahoma City, we say a lot of pick-up trucks and sweet tea. In Jamaica, we experienced the least amount of air conditioning. In Felton, without question, I walked past the highest number of old hippies. In fact, it seems like only old hippies live in Felton. In many respects, that’s the difference between being at home and visiting a new or strange place. When we read the Old Testament story of Job, we might feel like we have nothing in common with Job. For one, we live in the modern age and pay for items with cash or credit rather than camels. It's also unlikely we will ever have 10 children, 3,000 camels or 500…

In high school, I got a job working at the sporting goods store in the local mall. On my breaks, I would walk around the mall or head to the food court. Granted it was Peoria, IL, in the mid-1980's so there wasn't a broad spectrum of diversity -- but it was still fascinating to watch the people who went to the mall. I'm still fascinated by people. Airports, baseball games, coffee shops -- anywhere people gather. I like to observe how people act and react. How people interact intrigues me, especially as I watch through my pastoral eyes. This afternoon, while the kids at Opportunity Camp went to the beach, I walked into Felton and settled into the White Raven coffee shop. The White Raven is mostly a coffee shop with a few eccentric offerings, such as incense sticks and greeting cards. Felton only has about 4,000 people and most…

Let's talk about coffee and life -- two of my favorite subjects. When I'm at home, I'm a creature of habit. I have a general routine that I stick to -- roasting my own beans, alternating between my pour over and an Aeropress. The last thirty years of coffee drinking have been a constant pursuit of a better cup of coffee. I also liked the coffee we used to have in the office. Thanks to brewing equipment from New York companies for coffee machines, coffee was really good. Traveling, of course, throws a monkey wrench into habits. Whether it's working out or preparing a great cup of coffee, traveling makes it harder to stay on course. Many good habits have lost steam (did you catch that) when traveling. If it's a short trip, I'll usually skip the hotel coffee and head to a local coffee shop. While reducing my overall…

Well, I'm back! Literally. It's been about two weeks since my last post and for good reason: during that time I've been to Oklahoma City for the Women's College World Series and just recently returned from Montego Bay, Jamaica, where Tonya and I led a team of seventeen teenagers from Mountainview on a mission trip to Robin's Nest -- a children's home we help sponsor. At the end of this week, I will travel with our daughter, Hope, to Opportunity Camp near San Jose to work with kids in the social services system. While in the Montego Bay airport awaiting our flight to Houston, we watched the breaking coverage of the tragedy in Orlando. I'm still watching. Needless to say, I have many thoughts swirling around in my head. The phrase that keeps popping up is this: "in the image of God." As a Christ-follower, I believe that every person…