I was at my wife’s mom’s house visiting, when the caregiver, Carol, told her story. Her son, Daniel, had entered the military and done a three year tour in Afghanistan. Those years had been filled with turmoil and fear for Carol. She had continued to turn to the Lord. Trusting. Praying and Trusting again. Daniel,…
Tag: hope
Counting Pills
July 1, 2020 my life changed. I left the job I had had for over three decades of pastoring local churches to work in mediation and pastoral counseling. This has been a whole new world for me. It has meant a change in how I live every day. The change has been life altering and…
Great is Thy Faithfulness
“Dad, did you hear what I chose for my processional music?” “No, I didn’t,” I said, as we stood waiting our cue to walk in for the wedding rehearsal. She named the songs before the processional and then said, “And for the processional, ‘Great Is Thy Faithfulness.’ So, we need to walk slowly. I want…
Covid-19 And Life
After a full day on Saturday, I went swimming Sunday morning at 6 am for an hour and drove home. Already we were planning to stay home from church because Karen had been sick, so when I arrived, I sat down. It was like I had been caught in a wave, suddenly I was underwater,…
A Swim Filled with Thanks
At 24-hour fitness I had a one-hour personal trainer session with Bryan the trainer manager at my club. It is a way for him to get new clients. He spent a half hour with me, taught me better stances, use of breath, and walked me around the club. At the sales portion of his presentation,…
Life Comes in Waves
Listening to my CEO doing a training I was suddenly struck with this fact — he is leading from his strengths. Of course, hopefully this is true for all of us in life, but I imagine many of us are not leading from our strengths but wishing we had different strengths. The only reason I…
Clives: A Wild Chef With Many Knives
Last year I spent months studying a style of therapy called Internal Family Systems (IFS) as a Continuing Education journey. I do some counseling work with clients, desire to experience more wholeness myself, and find it applies to my work in mediation. I read the foundational book on IFS, called Self Therapy by Jay Earley…
Men who put Skin on Jesus: Ed D. and Dave S.
“I need to nail your feet to the ground,” Ed quipped on the way out of church one Sunday soon after I had arrived at Westside. It became his standing joke. He said it with a twinkle in his eye and a laugh. Ed, a barrel-chested, big guy, almost a decade older than me, has…
Men who put Skin on Jesus: Iron Sharpens Iron
The “South Banks Project” was a bitter pill for Banks’ residents. Streets and utilities had been completed in what had been a field and construction had begun on the houses, when I arrived at the church. By and large, the predominant attitude about the project in the community was critical. The folk of the Banks…
Men who Put Skin on Jesus: Bill, Rand and Glen
The pastor at a nearby congregation had a good friend in Bill Seagren, who was pastoring at Marquam and Carus UMCs. Some members from my previous church in California were his parishioners. I wrote of that here. The three of us met for prayer a few times. I always longed for those prayer times…
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