Do you know how to NOT evaluate the success of a church youth group high school retreat?  Just because the fire department, the EMT’s and the police department all visited your venue over the weekend doesn’t necessarily mean the trip was a complete failure.  Yep, I had that happen once on a trip in Tennessee.… Read More »

Something has been eating my tomatoes.  My garden is really starting to produce an excellent crop… yet each night for the past week, I have 2 or 3 tomatoes chewed up on the ground in the morning.  It is quite a puzzling mystery.  I can’t find any tracks and the electric fence is on all… Read More »

I’ve been thinking a bit about the idea of legacy this week.  On Monday my family had a memorial service for my step-grandmother.  Grandma Sue might have only been part of our family because she married my grandfather later in life… but nevertheless she has left a spiritual legacy within our family.  She was a… Read More »

Recently, I have had a string of mechanical issues.  First, we had two cars in our family that required significant repairs. I mean, one is bad enough… but two at the same time?  While on a camping vacation our camper water heater went out, and then on the way home I had to find a… Read More »

At my last church I was working late one evening while preparing for a youth ministry trip.  The only other staff member in the office suites of our building was our gentle and kind administrative pastor, John, who was diligently working the church budget numbers on his computer. I had gathered a few items from… Read More »

So, I saw something kind of funny here in town this week.  I witnessed someone driving alone in their car… wearing a mask… and pulling said mask off to the side so they could take a drag on a cigarette, and then putting their mask back in place.  Now, I’m no expert, I will admit,… Read More »

— Written July, 2016 I thought this PS’s Ponderings from my youth ministry days, just about 8 months before I came to Willard, related so well to the message for this week on encouragement. I quit youth ministry yesterday. Mired in the middle of a 5th week in a row of 60+ hour work weeks… Read More »

Our Daughter, Alyssa, has been helping us out by power washing our house — and boy did it need it! My guess is that it had been years since it had been done… and it is even possible, that it had never been done. The results are beyond noticeable – they are actually startling. The… Read More »

I have been pondering this week how quickly culture can change. I mean, just think about the last three months! In March, we were encouraged to “social distance” from others. What the world! I had never even heard of that term before then. Suddenly, if you wanted to spend time with extended family or friends… Read More »

It was a sneak attack. I should have been prepared. I should have used more caution. But the day was hot and the ditch in my front yard was too wet to mow, so it was time to use the weed whacker. The grass and weeds in the ditch and around our woods hadn’t been… Read More »