Presents From Unexpected Places (And a Giveaway!)

Count the Gifts. Cadence and His Great-Grandfather. April, 2010. There’s always a prize inside.  A few years ago, my third-millennium friend Glynn Young asked me a question that changed my worldview. I was sidelined with back pain, and in a comment-section discussion over at The High Calling he asked me a question that lobbed a friendly grenade into my cozy […]


One Word: Present

Sawyer, Focused. Yona, Guam: December 25, 2013. Farewell, Plan Q I’m known for my efficiency. People sometimes use words like “organized” and “strategic” to describe me.  They’re right. I’m good at juggling family, career, writing–all of it. And it costs me dearly. I’m always thinking two steps ahead, conjuring a contingency plan. If Plan A washes out, […]


I Can’t Always Get What I Want

But yes, I need what I get. As a graduate student, I spent a year on a Polynesian island doing research. Twenty years later, after discussing my adventures and misadventures with dozens and dozens of people, one thing is clear: However your imagination conjures my island experience, it wasn’t quite like that. One of the features of small-island […]


Weekend Reflection: Fierce Joy

    7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. 8 I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will […]


Weekend Reflection: The Still Waters

Today We Mourn With Those Who Mourn The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Yea, though I walk […]