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 divorce do so by this point. I had never heard of this concept, but apparently, it’s a “thing” – and related to the “seven-year itch” (i.e., the desire to have an affair). With this in mind, and as I’ve done with our six month, one year, two ...
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 divorce do so by this point. I had never heard of this concept, but apparently, it’s a “thing” – and related to the “seven-year itch” (i.e., the desire to have an affair). With this in mind, and as I’ve done with our six month, one year, two ...
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 divorce do so by this point. I had never heard of this concept, but apparently, it’s a “thing” – and related to the “seven-year itch” (i.e., the desire to have an affair). With this in mind, and as I’ve done with our six month, one year, two ...
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 ...
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 they had when they actually retired. Specifically, the researchers studied ...
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. ...
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 ...
I Will Never Be Satisfied
Do you know that song “Satisfied” in the musical Hamilton that occurs about halfway through the first act? It’s sung by Angelica Schuyler, who is captivated by Alexander at the same time that her sister ...
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 ...
I Will Never Be Satisfied
Do you know that song “Satisfied” in the musical Hamilton that occurs about halfway through the first act? It’s sung by Angelica Schuyler, who is captivated by Alexander at the same time that her sister ...
Comparing Myself to Other Men
I am not going to lie – I definitely do it. I compare myself to other men. I’ve been thinking a lot about this recently and just wanted to get to the bottom of my ...
When God Corrects Us to Protect Us
During our recent backpacking trip through parts of Europe, an interesting thing happened. We were walking around a city square in Ghent, Belgium one workday afternoon, and we saw a child running from the middle ...
Rachel’s Thoughts On Marriage
Sameer and I celebrated our one-year anniversary on May 23rd of this year, and it was spectacular. Our first year has had its bumps and bruises and hiccups, but I am so happy to say ...
What I’ve Learned in my First Year of Marriage
Rachel and I just celebrated our first wedding anniversary on May 23rd. So here I am, starting my second year as a husband. I’m no longer a newlywed, and in the parlance of sports, my ...
When our Hearts are Restless
Just like at the beginning of a new year, the beginning of my summer gives me a chance to consider how the first few five months have gone, and recalibrate my trajectory if I've gone ...
How to Get Over the Girl
So there was this one time where I really liked a particular girl. It was way back in 2005. She was all wrong for me, but I still wanted it to work, and gave it ...
When You Really Want to Find a Mentor
The Karate Kid – the original version, which came out in 1984 - is one of my all-time favorite movies. Why? Well, I could relate to Daniel LaRusso, the introverted, awkward, skinny underdog who was ...
When You Are Scared of Sudden Disaster
When I look back upon my life, I realize that the most unproductive thing I can do is to fear the future. And yet, I have done it. I mean, we all have done it. ...
Are You Safe To Be Yourself in Your Marriage?
Lately I have been reflecting on the passion, energy, and effort involved when a guy really likes a girl and just wants to be with her. You know, when he's past the uncertainty and has ...
When Love Starts to Become Conditional
When I was first falling for Rachel, I tried to do everything to win her heart. I remember teaching her how to juggle, and showing her how to play guitar. I remember writing her poems ...
Sleeping With My Wife
A couple weeks ago, we were hanging out with our friends Becky and Jared, and we got to talking about marriage and sleeping together. It got me thinking about my own experience, and what I ...
Does God Share Secrets With You?
To start the new year off right, I’m reading Ann Voskamp’s One Thousand Gifts and it’s teaching me a lot about counting my blessings on a daily basis, and how that directly produces joy in ...
When You’re Always Looking for More
Well, it’s the end of 2015. And I’m doing some reflecting, of course. Maybe I should wait until New Year’s Eve, but I’m on Christmas break, and so my mind is in an introspective mood. ...
When You Feel Like An Imposter
I have been thinking recently about the Imposter Syndrome. You know, the fear I sometimes feel that I will be found out. That it will be revealed that I don't have what it takes. That ...
When You Catch Someone Messing Up
A while ago, I stopped by CVS after playing ultimate frisbee at school to pick up some mouthwash and some toiletries. It was just time to run some errands, no big deal. But as I ...
What I’ve Learned in Six Months of Marriage
I am six months in. To marriage. To being a husband, and having a wife. And it’s actually going great. You know me by now, I always want to be completely candid so that in ...
Where Do I Get My Identity?
I have been thinking a lot about identity this week, probably I went to a concert this Tuesday. I finally got to see New Found Glory live, one of my all-time favorite bands and one ...
How to Find your Calling
In my last blog entry, I asked “What is your Calling?” and covered a number of related issues. I first discussed that a 'calling' is the secret of who you are meant to be, instead ...
What is your Calling?
I’ve been thinking a lot these days about contentment, and specifically how it relates to my calling. When I use the term “calling” I mean the secret of who you are meant to ‘be,’ and ...
Life Lessons I’ve Learned from Ultimate Frisbee
I love ultimate Frisbee. So much. If I could play every day of the week, I would. I just find it so fulfilling and fun because it’s competitive, exciting, and a workout – and it ...
How the Shortness of Life Can Motivate You
None of us like to think about our impending mortality. But I think about it all the time. And for me, it’s a good thing. It helps me. It serves as my decision filter on ...
Lead with your sadness, and follow with your success
My friend Dan and I went on our annual Adventure Week at the end of this summer, which typically involves either skiing/snowboarding (during the winter) or backpacking/hiking/climbing (during the summer) in Colorado. Even if my ...
My Goals Poster for 2015
If you've known me for a while, you know that each year I try to put together a collage of sorts with images from the Web - which I call my Goals Poster. It's just ...
When You Know, You Know
When it comes to finding the “one,” I’ve heard many people say that. “When you know, you know.” I’ve always been like, what does that even mean? How are you supposed to know? And is ...
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.
