The Dilemma of Distracted Parenting
It is nonstop when I am with them. “Look at me, Daddy!” “Watch me, Daddy!” “Daddy come over here!” “Daddy, are you listening?” “Daddy, will you play with me?” “Hey…. Hey…. Hey… Hey DAD!!!!!”. I get it. It makes sense. They want my attention. But even more, they want me to delight in them – no matter what it is they are doing. Sometimes it’s bellyflopping from the love seat ...
The Dilemma of Distracted Parenting
It is nonstop when I am with them. “Look at me, Daddy!” “Watch me, Daddy!” “Daddy come over here!” “Daddy, are you listening?” “Daddy, will you play with me?” “Hey…. Hey…. Hey… Hey DAD!!!!!”. I get it. It makes sense. They want my attention. But even more, they want me to delight in them – no matter what it is they are doing. Sometimes it’s bellyflopping from the love seat ...
The Dilemma of Distracted Parenting
It is nonstop when I am with them. “Look at me, Daddy!” “Watch me, Daddy!” “Daddy come over here!” “Daddy, are you listening?” “Daddy, will you play with me?” “Hey…. Hey…. Hey… Hey DAD!!!!!”. I get it. It makes sense. They want my attention. But even more, they want me to delight in them – no matter what it is they are doing. Sometimes it’s bellyflopping from the love seat ...
What I’ve Learned in Seven Years of Marriage
Rachel told me a while back that the seventh year of marriage is supposedly the hardest, with statistics showing that half of married couples who ...
What I’ve Learned in Six Years of Marriage
Hooray! Happy Anniversary to me! To Rachel! To us! That also means it’s time to share what I have been learning in marriage! Yep, the ...
Keeping First Things First
With the new year upon us, I've been thinking a lot about keeping first things first. It's so hard when the tyranny of the urgent pulls us in all sorts of directions, and we go ...
If You Can’t Measure It, It Doesn’t Matter
I am re-reading a book I love by Sara Hagerty, and the author brought up a point that I wanted to try to think through. She said that many of us hold a belief that ...
Obsessing Over the Stock Market
I am not sure if you’ve followed the stock market this year, but it has been a wild ride. In January and early February, we were approaching record highs in the major indexes. Then COVID-19 ...
The Desire To Be Loved
The week between Christmas and New Year’s is…weird. Everything builds up to a zenith on December 25th – which is a great day – but then it ends. And we find ourselves suspended in mid-air ...
Working Yourself To Death
I was reading a paper recently entitled “Spending in Retirement: Determining the Consumption Gap” that talked about how retirees are dying with more money than ...
The Most Beautiful Sight You’ve Seen
We’re up in Southwest Virginia for the holidays, and God gave us snow on the night of Christmas Eve! The miraculous part of it was ...
Why I Love Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! This special day allows me to reflect on Jesus, his celebrated birth, and all that He means to me and my family. And the day itself has become even more fun since ...
Childhood Moments I Miss the Most
When I was in elementary school, I used to entertain myself in the oddest of ways. I remember taking a a ruler and a fine sharpie marker and drawing a compass (like, the kind you ...
Want a Mentor? Be a Mentor
You may know that I’ve been hoping and praying for a older, wiser mentor in my life for decades. Someone who has walked the road I am on, who sees something unique in me and ...
Wishing My Life Away
As you know, I have been thinking about how I’ll never be satisfied. And that all of the beautiful things I've gone after – romantic love, success, pleasure, adventure, money, clout – won’t ever fully ...
Do I Fully Trust My Partner?
With Christmas fast approaching, I was thinking about the relationship between the parents of Jesus. We don’t know much at all about Joseph from historical texts, but English translations convey that he was a carpenter ...
Are You Preparing for the Future?
Every fall, it’s hurricane season down here in Southeast Florida - which serves as an annual reminder that disaster could be headed my way. I’ve had to deal with four major hurricanes while I’ve lived ...
The Bad Stuff I Model To My Kid
You might not know this about me, but I get frustrated frequently. Not with my job, or marriage, or even other people, but with small stuff. Like when one-year-old Ravi throws his food on the ...
Never Trust a Leader Without a Limp
Have you heard this quote, or one of its variations? Originally made by John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard church movement which has spread across 95 countries and involves over 2,000 congregations, it is ...
The Best Days of Our Lives
I have been doing a lot of walking down memory lane recently. Every night while trying to fall asleep, I take these voyages in my mind back to various stages of my life. And I ...
When God Honors Our Time Spent
Last night, Rachel and I were discussing the notion that how a person spends their time really says a lot about that person. Take me for instance: for over a decade, I have spent my ...
Fresh Eyes and Little Things
Before my little girl Maya was born, I remember praying so very hard for her to have perfect health. Not just every time we went to the OB/GYN for another sonogram, and not just on ...
Sacrifices That Are No Sacrifice
I have always been extremely sensitive to those less fortunate than me. I think this started when my family took me to see our relatives in India when I was ten. On this trip, my ...
Why I Love Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone! This special day allows me to reflect on Jesus, his celebrated birth, and all that He means to me and my family. And the day itself has become even more fun since ...
Childhood Moments I Miss the Most
When I was in elementary school, I used to entertain myself in the oddest of ways. I remember taking a a ruler and a fine sharpie marker and drawing a compass (like, the kind you ...
Want a Mentor? Be a Mentor
You may know that I’ve been hoping and praying for a older, wiser mentor in my life for decades. Someone who has walked the road I am on, who sees something unique in me and ...
Wishing My Life Away
As you know, I have been thinking about how I’ll never be satisfied. And that all of the beautiful things I've gone after – romantic love, success, pleasure, adventure, money, clout – won’t ever fully ...
Do I Fully Trust My Partner?
With Christmas fast approaching, I was thinking about the relationship between the parents of Jesus. We don’t know much at all about Joseph from historical texts, but English translations convey that he was a carpenter ...
Dealing With Each Other’s Idiosyncrasies
You might think this odd, but whenever it is raining and I’m driving around, I don’t use my car’s windshield wipers. This makes Rachel crazy. She’s like, “How can you even see!?” and I’m like, ...
When You’re Alone Again on Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day. Or Singles Awareness Day. Your choice. A lot of people dread it as we inch towards the middle of February. Many of those individuals believing for a new relationship had really high hopes ...
When You Just Want To Be Noticed
When I was growing up, oh man, did I just want to be noticed. I remember in third grade intentionally wearing braided thread bracelets just so the girl who sat next to me would think ...
Why I Don’t Make New Year’s Resolutions
New Year’s Resolutions are normal, healthy, logical, and helpful. They springboard and incentivize us to make positive changes. I understand why we make them, and why I made them for a very long portion of ...
How Your Wife Fits Into Your Life
Well, in marriage, the lessons just keep on coming. And I’m committed to keep sharing what I’m learning just in case it helps someone else. I know all of my single friends want to get ...
Do You Take Your Partner for Granted?
Rachel and I share a king-sized bed. Oh man, a king-sized bed is the best. I know everyone can’t currently have one because their bedroom or budget may not accommodate it, but I hope that ...
Shortcuts to Spiritual Growth
I have been thinking a lot about our microwave society – and how we want everything RIGHT NOW. And every new technological development reinforces that tendency in us. Some of us remember connecting to the ...
Why You Need to Say No More Often
As the pages of the calendar keep turning, I’ve been thinking a lot about how I spend my time recently. Actually, this is something I regularly have tried to do – the periodic evaluation and ...
When You Want To Curse Your Neighbor
Have you ever bought anything on Craigslist? For me, it’s always a little nerve-wracking, not because I’m afraid that I will get mugged or killed but because I’ve been screwed over before. I was in ...
Integrity in the Men’s Bathroom
Recently while going to the bathroom in an airport, I noticed a wad of chewing gum in the urinal I was using. And it reminded me anew of how much I hate it when guys ...
When Your Prayers Aren’t Loud Enough
I’m not getting a lot of sleep recently due to our eleven-month old waking up randomly to scream her lungs out. We struggled a lot during the first five months, but then turned a corner ...
When My Mouth Gets Me In Trouble
So, I really didn’t know the power of my words until I got married - when I began to fully and completely do life with another individual. And though I quickly caught a glimpse of ...
What I’ve Learned in Three Years of Marriage
I can’t believe it, but it’s been three years since I said “I do” at the altar and married the love of my life. Three whole years. Among the joys we’ve shared together (some cool ...
When You’re Rushing Ahead of God
Have you ever been confused as to whether it is your responsibility or God’s responsibility to make something happen? Man, I have definitely struggled with that. It’s like, okay, I know that He’s not going ...
If You Don’t Have Something Nice to Say
I’ve been thinking a lot about the saying “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” It’s a solid statement. Especially because there’s a lot of negativity that surrounds us. ...
What Are You Competing For?
I’ve been thinking a lot about competition recently, and how it relates to the things I want in my life. When I was in high school, I competed with my peers to get straight As ...
The Most Important Thing You Can Ask Your Mate
Whether you’ve been in a relationship for a few weeks, a few months, or a few years, you’ve learned that communication is critical and foundational for things to work out. Some of us are naturally ...
Humble Yourself or Life Will Do It For You
A while back, I was in Manchester, New Hampshire to give a talk. Everything was going really well – I was connecting with my audience, making them laugh, and basically feeling like a rock star ...
The Five Best Decisions I’ve Ever Made
Today, I thought it would be fun to contemplate the best decisions I have ever made. Like everyone else, I have made plenty of bad decisions, but I’m already really great at remembering them, dwelling ...
The Importance of Non-Sexual Touch
When we were dating, I wanted to touch Rachel all of the time. I remember shaking her hand when first meeting her. I remember teaching her how to juggle, and having her stand right next ...
How Our Compromises Cost Us
I have to travel sometimes for work, and pretty much every time I stay in a hotel, I am fascinated by my hotel room’s minibar. Why, you ask? Well, first off, I typically have just ...
When Bad Things Happen In Your Life
I was thinking yesterday about the occurrence of crappy things in our lives. Like, how sometimes it feels so random and arbitrary when they come along. Everything is going along pretty swimmingly, your heart and ...
When You Don’t Pray Anymore
Shepherds. I’ve been thinking about them a lot recently, mostly because of a verse that stood out to me: The shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper ...
Can We Connect?
Hey there! Can I update you via email when I write and post a new blog? I won’t spam you – I’m just trying to purposefully connect with those who share my heartbeat about believing for the best, living life with childlike faith, and viewing the world around us with awe and wonder.
Can We Connect?
Hey there! Can I update you via email when I write and post a new blog? I won’t spam you – I’m just trying to purposefully connect with those who share my heartbeat about believing for the best, living life with childlike faith, and viewing the world around us with awe and wonder.
Can We Connect?
Hey there! Can I update you via email when I write and post a new blog? I won’t spam you – I’m just trying to purposefully connect with those who share my heartbeat about believing for the best, living life with childlike faith, and viewing the world around us with awe and wonder.
