Every life is a story. When we encounter people, they are not just entering into our stories…we are entering into theirs. There is more than the moment. In the moment, I can easily be self-obsessed, self-absorbed, and self-centered. It is easy for me to only consider myself and how the actions of others impact me and my story. I often forget that every interaction is the intersection of stories. Where I’ve been, what I’ve done, and what’s been done to me collide with the collected experiences of another as our stories merge into a new narrative…

I know…I know…it’s simplistic and it rhymes, but don’t discount this powerhouse truth because of its inherent cuteness. When in doubt, do without. This basic principle has saved me from doing numerous things that could have brought more pain and brokenness into my world…

Here is a life lesson I had to learn the hard way…if you have no grass, don’t kill the weeds.

It started innocently enough. I woke up on an unusually warm early Spring Saturday morning. While enjoying a cup of coffee and looking at my backyard through the kitchen window, I crafted a plan for my day. I felt that I had reached the point in life where it was time for me to finally have a well-manicured lawn. I don’t know what got into me…it was probably the combined effect of the warm sunshine pouring through the window, the hopeful songs of early birds getting their worms, and a Saturday with no plans…

Staff Member: “We need $30,000!”

Me: “Why do we need $30,000?”

Staff Member: “Because we have bats in the building!”

This type of conversation is fairly normal in my line of work. Not necessarily the “bats in the building” part, but the “we have a problem and the only way to fix it is to spend a lot of money we don’t have” part…

God is love. The Bible is a book that contains God’s words to us. God prepared, preserved, and presented His words to us in amazing book that helps us to hear His voice in powerful ways. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible reveals God’s love for His world. Love is the foundational lens through which the Bible’s message is intended to be understood, applied, and shared. Since love is God’s intent, scripture not shared in love is out of context…

Here’s a lifehack that will provide you with more joy than you can imagine. Change your “have-tos” into “get-tos.” This simple strategic change in thinking is empowering and refreshing. Whenever you find yourself thinking that you “have to” do something, remind yourself that you “get to” do it…

Ducks are cool.

I love watching ducks. There are few things that I find more relaxing than watching ducks on a pond. Nothing seems to bother them. They are calm, cool, and collected. Noise doesn’t faze them. Rain doesn’t disrupt them. Being watched doesn’t change them…

Are you tired of feeling anxious? Stop feeding your anxiety. Are you tired of feeling angry? Stop feeding your anger. Are you tired of feeling arrogant? Stop feeding your arrogance. Don’t feed what you don’t want to grow…

Life…no one gets out alive. How do we navigate life when we know it always ends in death? How do we assign purpose, meaning, and value to our little blip on the timeline of humanity? How do we escape hopelessness, despair, and regret? How do we transcend self to connect to something greater? We have three options: a cabin, a cave, or a fire…

“Failure is not an option!” That phrase is often used by leaders as a motivating statement to express the importance of whatever mission they are pursuing. It sounds great, but it isn’t true…

Do you ever feel like your life is in a rut? Like you are just spinning your wheels? Like you have no traction and you are not going anywhere?…

Truth and love go hand-in-hand. Any attempt to separate love from truth or truth from love results in painful relational damage. Genuine expressions of love are truthful and genuine expressions of truth are loving. God is love and God is truth…God is truth and God is love…

Leadership is making your next best bad decision. Whether it is organizational leadership, family leadership, or self-leadership…we all face difficult choices each day…

Emotions are a hot topic. It is good that our cultural dialogue is exploring how to properly deal with emotions, because emotions are important. We are emotional people created by an emotional God who must find a way to emotionally connect with other emotional people…

Over the last couple of years, I developed a habit of posting notes on the wall in my study. The notes are in my line of sight while I sit at my desk and work on my computer. They are an eclectic collection of personally tested truths that remind me of who I am, what I am called to do, and how I want to encourage others to be. I find them to be useful reminders for me personally, organizationally, and relationally…