This has been a pretty tough week for me (Justin). I haven’t been myself. I haven’t felt like being around people very much. I’ve had very little desire to engage emotionally in conversations. My family has been very patient with me as my mood swings have been...
Closure.
The word itself isn’t that big, just to say it. It is a lot easier to say the word “closure” than it is to obtain it.
Closure is elusive. It is something we all desire but don’t always know how to find. Closure is the nice pretty bow we perceive others have tied...
When you grow up in church, there is really only one unpardonable sin. The Bible says that it is blasphemy, but in the church world I grew up in, it was adultery. When Trisha and I left ministry in 2005 due to my affair, I had no idea what the future held, but I was sure of one thing:
...
Trish and I had only been dating two months when I told her I loved her.
I loved how she looked. I loved her Chicago accent. I loved her 1993 poofy hair. I loved the way she walked. I loved her smile. I loved the way she took her time in conversations with others. I loved everything about...
A few months ago I was searching for a specific document and during my search found this letter. I wrote this love letter to Justin in 1994 a year before we got married. We had both moved to Vermont Illinois (a small farming town) for a part-time youth ministry position, while also attending...
There is a reality that all of us face every day…life is hard. It’s only when I try to escape that reality that I am blindsided by the difficulty of life.
Friendship is hard.
Marriage is hard.
Integrity is hard.
Parenting is hard.
Leading is hard.
Family dynamics are hard.
I’ve...
Today, we are honored to share with you a post from our friend, Peter Greer. Peter is husband to Laurel, daddy to Keith, Lili and Myles, President and CEO of HOPE International (www.hopeinternational.org) and author of The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good (www.spiritualdanger.com). His book is...
he words we say have power. They have power to breath life into a relationship. Words have power to build up a marriage. They have power to inspire a child. They have the power to shape a soul. Words have power to destroy as well. They can wound a heart; they can damage a marriage; they can...
I know what it’s like to be Ryan Braun. He is the Major League Baseball player that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, got off on a technicality, then stood before the press and swore on his life he didn’t use them. He just got suspended for using performance enhancing...
A few weeks ago, Trish took our oldest son, Micah (17-years-old) and our youngest son, Isaiah (10-years-old) to the doctor to get physicals for basketball camp. Everything was normal until it was time to get shots. The shots weren’t for Isaiah, they were for Micah.
As Trish sat in...
When we started dating our spouse, the time we invested in that relationship was huge. We carved out time to talk; we talked for hours on the phone; we spent money we didn’t have to buy flowers; we drove long distances just to see them for a few hours; we went out to dinner three times a...
There are days that I feel like I am a great dad. I have an authentic conversation with one of my boys. I help them solve a problem that they have in a relationship. We discuss a deep spiritual truth. Those are good days.
Then there are days that I feel like the worst parent ever. I say something...
There is something everyone wants more than money. There is something everyone desires more than fame. In the quiet place of every human heart, lives this universal desire:
Transformation.
Everyone wants the ability to change. If we experienced change based on intentions or desire,...
I had the opportunity on Tuesday to spend some time with a group of church planters and their wives. Lots of people have big dreams, but none bigger than church planters. They dream about things only God can make happen. It was huge honor for me to be with them.
As I was driving home, I...
Most of us want to forgive. We don’t want to hold a grudge. We don’t want to be bitter. We don’t want our lives to be consumed with resentment. But more than wanting to forgive, we don’t want to be hurt again.
There is this natural belief that if we forgive, then we are...
As Christians I think we’ve adopted a sliding scale of honesty. We look at situations in the news, with the IRS or other scandalous stories and we want to know the truth. We pound our fists and demand truth. The truth is supposed to win. The truth is supposed to set us free.
But in...
