During my junior and senior years in high school and summers in college, I worked at Lone Tree Retirement Community in Meade, KS. Mostly I worked in the kitchen as a “dish washer”, but the title was a bit of a misnomer. My job description, had it ever been documented, would read like this: Responsible [...]

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Around this time of year, when daytime temps hover in the high 30s and the overnight lows still drop below freezing, maple trees start to wake from their dormancy and prepare for the growing season. To fuel new growth, the tree releases its stored sugar which makes the sap sweeter than any other time of [...]

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As we close in on Thanksgiving, I want to take a few minutes to express my gratitude to some wonderful people. I’m thankful for Kristi. If she reads this post, she may be surprised to discover that her question about spices, asked mostly in passing, was the encouragement I needed to pick myself up, get [...]

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People are quirky.  I am a person. Therefore, I am quirky. I had a bit of a dilemma on my hands while I was on vacation last week. The campground where my family and I stayed had an ice cream parlour which featured a dozen or so flavors of homemade ice cream.  Three of the [...]

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It is to my great shame that I took my family for granted for many years. I deeply regret the years spent focused on myself more than them. They are, all of them, crazy, unique, frustrating, complicated and wonderful. So whenever I have a chance to spend time with them, I jump at it. This [...]

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Helping my dad in the garden is one of my most cherished childhood memories. As a pastor, it was important for him to get out into the community, so rather than planting vegetables in our backyard, he signed up for a plot at the city garden. Perhaps it was this small level of removal from [...]

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