Category: Faith

In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer puts forth an intriguing proposition. He suggests that the one of the fundamental characteristics of the Body of Christ (the Church) is that it is a visible community. I think in the midst of government-forced COVID restrictions against the church, his words have great implications for the…

This time, from AlfonZo Rachel: (I’ll eventually fix the resolution…in the meantime, you have to click into the post to view.)  

Sheep aren’t nearly as dumb as we’ve made them out to be in stories and political comparisons. But they are a herd animal, to a fault. And they are utterly defenseless. They were, and to some extent still are in some areas of the world, relied on for food and clothing. Because of their importance…

Lots of people are willing to give advice, even when not asked for. Sometimes it’s not what you want to hear, sometimes it’s exactly what you need to hear, and sometimes it really makes you wonder about the person giving it. I wouldn’t be so bold as to assume what advice may or may not…

I’d previously began a series about the scandal and my perspective from my time there in the 90s. I have since decided to not only not continue the series, but to delete what I had written. Part of the reason is that I just don’t have the time to put into it right now. I…

For the past couple of weeks since Evanna’s gotten home from Seattle Children’s I’ve been thinking of this topic (Pain vs Hope) and how to express it. Today this picture popped up on Instagram as I was scrolling through…and there it was. So often it seems that we think that if there’s pain, there’s not…

This video is of our baby girl Evanna. For those who aren’t yet following her story (her Facebook Community Page is here and her website will be up soon and linked here once published), she was born with spina bifida, hydrocephalus, chiari II malformation, and clubbed feet. Here in the United States, only 36% of…

I was recently paid a compliment on social media about how we’re handling our little girl’s issues and how we parent. (For those that don’t know, you can follow her journey on Evanna’s Facebook Community Page). I understood the intent–it was a very nice and sincere compliment, but I kind of brushed it aside. To us,…

For months I’ve been somewhat unsettled with the praise we’ve received with Evanna and her care, and haven’t been at ease in accepting (or heck, sometimes even believing) the compliments we’re received. Because here are my more internal thoughts: It’s not, and hasn’t been, easy. We’ve shed our share of tears in fear, worry, frustration,…

  (The first pic is Evanna on September 30th, the day after she was born. At that point, two surgeries down already. The second pic is her on November 8th, after having been home two days.) We’ve been home now for just shy of two weeks. And not a day goes by that I am…