A “Banquet of Misfits”
It was a simple weekend meal of cheese pizza and Thai food; but the guests were the ones God most wanted there. On World Down Syndrome Day, I hope that we all get a chance to experience a banquet like this…
A Litmus Test for Beauty
This is a strange, perplexing day. The contrast between King and Trump and the words they use is pretty irrefutable.
The messy American experiment lurches on; and I need a grid to evaluate its outcomes. Fortunately, my daughter gave me somewhere to start.
Christmas Greetings
A hard reality came into focus for me this year that will be difficult to live out without a lot of help from above. The Christmas season reminds us that, despite evidence to the contrary, we are not alone in making the world more beautiful. But first, we need to be thrilled by Hope.
Collision & Convergence
I would normally look at a fender bender as a a frustrating inconvenience. But when it happened to me this summer, I got a glimpse of how God can use – even orchestrate – an inconvenience to change lives for the better.
Julia’s Summer OT
Julia has never really had a “summer off“. We are always working on something; and this summer it’s occupational therapy to help her do things that typical kids take for granted.
What follows is a small vignette of what she’s been working on with her OT, Miss Courtney…
World Down Syndrome Day & What Julia Does for Me
As a dad, I have spent the last 13+ years teaching my kid as best I can. But what I found is that she has a heck of a lot more to teach me. Here are the latest ways she’s been taking me to school…
Christmas Greetings
In a hard emotional season, I was reminded of a heavenly paradox: the journey from “fitting in” to experiencing real belonging in my life is in the direction of my teenage daughter with a condition that unenlightened society relegates to irrelevance.
Bring Jesus Your Pain…
For years, I’ve thought deeply about what it means to enter seasons of healing from the past and be a better human. I’ve had to put my money where my mouth is more than once in that direction and have developed some convictions around it.
The work is not finished.
I’ve heard the words of friendly advice, “Take it to Jesus” more than once; but I’ve often struggled with what that really means.
This is an expanded version of a blog post I recently did for my church to take a stab at answering that question.
Expressions on a Settee
We were at the wedding of one of Julia‘s very best friends. Julia was looking pretty snazzy and feeling the exuberance of the moment and it reminded me again why I always bring my camera with me.
They Gave Her a Chance…
With the excitement and anticipation of seventh grade starting tomorrow, I couldn’t let the weekend go by without stopping and looking back with gratitude on a season of Julia’s life fondly coming to a close. Thank you Miss Loretta!