The Way

Sylvanus - reaching Nepalese in NYC I have been blessed in so many ways in my 53 plus years of life. Today I am sitting in a coffee shop in NYC doing some writing, prepping for meetings with some of our partners in P2 Missions and reflecting. Maybe it is the Christmas season. Maybe it is that time of year when 9 years ago my mom was running towards heaven as she battled cancer. Maybe it is just that I am a melancholy sap at times. Whatever the reason, I find myself sitting at a table for 6 with 4 other people I have never met before and likely will never see again. Some will engage in conversation while others drink their coffee, scour their cellphone for information or connection, and others simply have other thing on their minds or jobs to do. People from around the world are here. Glancing through the coffee shop I see Colombians, Nepalese, Chinese, Persian and many others who my untrained eye cannot really identify. All people with stories, families, jobs, hobbies, hurts and...

Wow. Let me start by saying that I did not see this outcome prior to some of the exit polls on Tuesday evening last week. I actually thought that Mrs. Clinton would win with about a 3% margin (48-45ish). Actually it looks like she has won the popular vote but obviously was defeated in the electoral college. That has happened before where a candidate has won the popular vote and lost the election due to the electoral vote. And just a reminder that the US is a Republic and not a democracy. The simple explanation of the differences is that a republic is a representative government ruled by law (the US Constitution) while a democracy is a government ruled by the majority.  Here is a list: 1824 - John Quincy Adams 1876 - Rutherford B. Hayes 1888 - Benjamin Harrison 1960 - John F. Kennedy (disputed) 2000 - George W. Bush I am not a political expert. I decided early on in this presidential race that I was going to abstain from making political comments on social media....

I signed up to work with little kids at church once a quarter almost 5 years ago. It was a little bait and switch because the once a quarter materialized as once a month but I digress. At first I was a little intimidated by these 3-5 year olds but now I am just resigned to the fact that they have it figured out for the most part. Sure they are young; they at times don't think through the consequences of their actions; they might have an accident in their pants; they might be challenged with a "mine" attitude, but THEY TEACH ME SO STINKING MUCH! Not actual kids in the Owl class. Sunday morning was the final day of our church's Disciple Now and Sondra and I hosted 7 young ladies that were a joy to have in our home for the weekend. I "helped" serve pancakes to the entire youth group (if you count trying to convince students to eat crazy amounts of pancakes as help that is). During our church's worship hour I headed to our Owl room which is made up of...

Actually the title is just a clever attempt to say, "I have been remiss/lazy in posting a blog post." I have good intentions, honestly, I do but then, well, I just don't blog. Our family is doing well. We have had the opportunity to spend time with both sets of kids and that is always delightful. Morgan and Wil have moved back to Jackson, TN (2 hours west of us) for Wil to be in the accelerated nursing program at Union. Morgan took a job as an enrollment counselor for Union and she is enjoying that work. She has traveled to Texas and Colorado the past couple of weeks working college fairs and Wil has been fortunate enough to be with her part of the time in both locations. Wil is also working part-time at Starbucks so we have been the recipients of some good coffee. Shelbi and Mark are doing well. Mark is training for Ironman NC that races in about 3 weeks and has come down with some kind of lung funk but hopes to be on the mend soon. Shelbi is in DC this week as part...

The cities of Cleveland and Philadelphia are probably grateful for the amount of dollars that were spent in their cities the past couple of weeks hosting the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. And I am grateful that there were no major incidents of harm to people in the cities. I was not able to watch all of the speakers but did catch some of each Convention and heard almost all of the speeches of Trump and Clinton. Here are my observations: 1. Both conventions resembled the Hunger Games. 2. Comic Con and the conventions have much more in common than I would have imagined. 3. America is a great nation and I am not even close to the mainstream of the views expressed at both conventions. 4. Facts are squishy at best and in most cases are not so veiled attempts to just deceive. 5. History repeats itself. 6. After hearing the respective platforms, I am not able to vote for either of the major party candidates. 7. I will exercise my right to vote and am grateful f...

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to preach at local church here in Mt. Juliet. I found myself very conflicted as I prepared in light of all of the events of this past week. I was not sure how to address the issues of the week to a congregation that I really do not know well. I have preached there once before but really  felt God leading me to the Colossians 3 passage. I really wrestled with Him as I prepared. My prayer is that Christ would be glorified and peoples' lives would be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am grateful to Friendship Community Church for the opportunity to share God's Word with them. Here is the link . I am an imperfect vessel but His Word is truth.

The events this past weekend in Orlando were horrific. On Friday evening, a young woman, Christina Grimmie was brutally murdered by a man named Kevin James Loibl. I had never heard of either of them before the news reported the tragedy on Saturday. And then to wake up Sunday morning to the news of 50 men and women who had lost their lives in a nightclub shooting was just overwhelming and numbing. But I don't want to be numb towards these events or any other events where injustice is done. I want to read through the names and see the faces of those who have been hurt and killed and I want to pray for those still alive and for their families and friends. I want to really feel for them. I know I cannot fully understand their pain but I want to empathize with them. Stanley Almodovar III, Luis Vielma, Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, Kimberly Morris, Edward Sotomayor Jr. Five of the 50 Orlando nigbtclub victims - copied from NBC News But quite honestly, it is easier for me to be numb or...

Milford Sound, South Island, New Zealand Ugh! Has it really been almost four months since I posted, I am going to do a better job of blogging more lately. Uh, well . . . I guess that makes me a liar. And I hate being caught in a lie. I really am longing for the day when I am not afraid of getting caught in a lie, but just give up lying or trying to make myself look a little better than I really am. So . . .  what's been happening since early February? That's a whole season and a half ago! If any of you keep up with me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook then you know that in early March Sondra, me, Shelbi, Mark, Morgan and Wilson made our way to New Zealand. We all arrived there separately (by couples that is) and the kids met up at the airport in Auckland and began their trek towards Taupo, while Sondra and I pretty much headed to Taupo directly so I could get acclimated and situated for Ironman New Zealand. We met up with our friends Dave and Kimberly (Dave was also do...

So Super Bowl L, uh, I mean 50 has finally been played and the underdog Denver Broncos have earned the title Super Bowl Champs.That defense that they played practically all year was pretty incredible. We all have seen, read and heard about their troubles on offense, but that defense, well, it was pretty impressive to say the least. It is kind of hard as a KC Chiefs fan to congratulate those Broncos fans (the whole AFC West rivalry thing), but their defense won them a championship. Congrats to all Denver Broncos fans everywhere. Much has been written and said about Cam Newton's press conference. And, his lack of pouncing "on" or at least "toward" that fumble late in the 4th quarter.  I don't know what is going through his head at that time. Actually no one but Cam really knows but most of us have our opinions. If I am looking for a weakness in Cam, my conclusion might be, "What a wimp! Pounce on the ball man. This game hangs in the balance." If I...

So . . . it has been awhile. I have no excuses. I just have not blogged. Let me try and do a quick catch up here. November - the whole family flew to Phoenix, AZ to be support Mark in Ironman AZ. He did an awesome job in some really cruddy weather (rainy and cold) and completed a complete IRONMAN on a broken foot. He is a beast! We had a great Thanksgiving. Sondra and I traveled to east TN and enjoyed our time with Mark's family on his grandparent's farm. Wil had a birthday the end of the month. What a great young man. We are blessed to have him in our family. December - we all headed to KC for my nephew's wedding in early Dec. It was great to see family and attend the wedding. James (Jimmy) and Megan had a beautiful wedding (officiated by my dad) and they live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex now. Beautiful couple.  - Mark had his tonsils removed which is a big deal at 5 and a horrible deal when you are 26. He was down for a couple of weeks.  - We all spent so...