The Way

Photo by Harrison's Lens It has been a bit of a whirlwind since the Big Day of the Wil and Morgan wedding. They honeymooned in Mexico and came back relaxed and tanned and ready to start real life together and 6 weeks in to their marriage they are doing great. Their apartment is set up and they are back into a routine of work and living life. I do want to share this picture with you of Morgan and me walking down the aisle. The first time I saw it, well, I might have teared up a little. So honored to be dad to both Morgan and Shelbi and now dad-in-law to Wil and Mark. Who knew it could be this good? Mark and Shelbi are doing great and extremely busy. Mark's season of work is much like mine in the summer. We work about 10 months behind the scenes and then summer hits and we run like crazy as campers hit our respective sites. Mark is training for IRONMAN Arizona which takes place in November so he is swimming, biking and riding whenever he can between a busy work schedule. ...

I realize that is has been almost three weeks since the wedding for Morgan and Wil and it is time for me to give you a little insight to what happened. I want to explain it in just a few short words - God-honoring! Beautiful! Humbling! FUN! God-honoring: Wil and Morgan have been a wonderful example of how to honor one another in a dating/engagement relationship. It has been a joy to watch them interact; learn one another; and figure out how two people who are different temperaments and personalities learn to accept one another just as God designed them. Beautiful: Okay, so I am a biased dad, but Morgan was just beautiful. She glowed. She beamed. She was just . . . well, beautiful. My mom always said that I would have made a beautiful girl and since Morgan has a tendency to look like me, I take mom's words as a compliment. Wil looked fairly handsome himself and to watch him watch Morgan walk down the aisle was pretty awesome. (I had a great vantage point.) Humbling: It wa...

So ESPN does this documentary series called 30 for 30. Some are okay and some are really good. Today, Sondra and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary and quite honestly, all 30 years have been incredible. I remember May 11, 1985 like it was yesterday. Sondra and I were both young (see the picture) and were smart enough that we did not have it all figured out, but we committed to figure it out together and so here we are 30 years later, with much still to learn, but more in love today than ever. May 11, 1985 Here are a few things (I might make it to 30) that have been a highlight of these 30 years. (This will not be an exhaustive list by any means either.)  1. We had 4.5 years of just us before Shelbi came along. I think it helped us solidify our relationship in those early years.  2. We moved 500 miles away from our parents and had to make it on our own. Man, we had so little money, but we had each other and a sweet couple, the Reynolds, who took us under thei...

St. Patrick During worship today I was reminded of this hymn that was said to have been on the breastplate of St, Patrick. He is much more than green beer and I have posted his story many times in commemoration of St. Patrick's Day. You can find it here . I do want to share this with you this week this Lorica. I find it beautiful. I bind unto myself today The strong Name of the Trinity, By invocation of the same The Three in One and One in Three. I bind this today to me forever By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation; His baptism in Jordan river, His death on Cross for my salvation; His bursting from the spicèd tomb, His riding up the heavenly way, His coming at the day of doom I bind unto myself today. I bind unto myself the power Of the great love of cherubim; The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour, The service of the seraphim, Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word, The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls, All good deeds done unto the Lor...

It has been a sort of busy December but an incredibly relaxing one for sure. There is some big news to pass along, so here goes. Back before Thanksgiving, Wilson approached me about "meeting for breakfast" one morning while I was on vacation. I said yes, and knew that this conversation was going to lead to some pretty serious conversation about Wilson's and Morgan's future together. We had a great conversation that morning at Panera and I was able to share with him that we have been praying for him long before we even knew who he was or what he looked like. It was an expensive conversation for me and a nervous one for him. :-) On a mid-December weekend he planned a trip for Morgan and he to jet away to Washington, DC to meet up with some friends and just enjoy the sites in DC. Morgan was not aware that many of her friends would be meeting them there so that was a nice surprise once they arrived in DC. They explored the city, saw many of the great sites there ...

This young lady and her beau have written such a nice classic Christmas song. McKenzie Lockhart works with us in the World Changers/P2 Missions office. She is an incredible artist and a beautiful soul. You can search her other stuff on YouTube as well.

If you know me at all, you know that I am a KC Royals fan. It really goes back a long time. Actually to about 1969. My dad took my brother and me to so many baseball games back in that old Memorial Stadium that had housed the minor league KC Blues, the KC Monarchs of the Negro League, the KC Athletics and the KC Royals. Starting in 1969, the Royals became that mainstay MLB team in KC. The Athletics headed off to Oakland in 1968 and promptly became contenders and a quick rival of the expansion Royals who kicked it off in KC in 1969. The Royals have been my team since then. About 45 years worth of my life. There have been some really good years through the mid-80s and then really lean years until the past couple of years. What this team did this year though is really just plain, old baseball fun. A bunch of young players with a couple of veteran pitchers, a somewhat semi-successful manager and a fan base that had little to cheer for so many years. But it was a great combination. A...