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I recently returned from a week with St. Paul people in the Dominican Republic. On the last day there, our trip coordinator, Heather, took us out to a little sandbar just off the coast. The excursion gave us a chance to relax after a week of work, an…
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This week, I was on the phone with my sister pondering the most effective way to work through a formidable to-do list. We all have our to-do lists, things that are important, things that have to get done, and have to get done in the right order. They…
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Most of us probably do not keep our homes in immaculate condition seven days a week. If you’re like me, picking up all of the clutter, recycling junk mail, and having every dish washed and put away isn’t always a priority. It becomes a priority if s…
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Last month, I happened to read an article in the Wall Street Journal detailing the life and work of a cobbler named James Fucile. At 83 years old and with nearly sixty years in the business, James finally decided to retire and close down his shoe rep…
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My 3-year-old daughter loves to play hide and seek. The thing that makes this particularly fun for all of us is that she is terrible at it. The game usually goes like this – I’ll start counting and she’ll run to a corner of our house and curl up in a…
Steve is bright, resourceful, and fun loving, blessed with the capacity in not taking himself too seriously. He also happens to be deeply faithful – a guy who loves the Lord and who, with his wife Joan, has made St. Paul Lutheran Church a second home…
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It’s not easy being the church these days. Actually, it has never been easy. But let’s focus on the present moment since that’s where we find ourselves. By difficult, I don’t mean weathering critics of the church who enjoy pointing out how Christians…
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Growing up in Oklahoma, we never lived close to family. The closest were my grandparents in southwestern Minnesota. My mom was in charge of our church’s music program, so Christmas almost always meant worshiping at our church and settling in at home…
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“Mom, can we have chili dogs?” This was the question from my then-4-year-old brother, Daniel, regarding Christmas day dinner that year. It was the usual family holiday insanity, packed with airport runs, last-minute errands, and family activities. Ex…
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Today is my parents’ 49th wedding anniversary. On December 10, 1966, they were married in the small, stark sanctuary of the Baptist church where our family worshiped for decades after that. It was an old-fashioned wedding in most senses. There was n…
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I sat behind an older woman at a conference the other day. Her face looked like a mountain range, beautifully contoured all the way from hairline to chin. I have no idea who this woman was, but she was more interesting than the lecture. I glanced her…
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I have a bad habit of forgetting to empty the pockets of my clothes. This can become slightly problematic when chapstick or a piece of gum makes its way through the washing machine on laundry day. But it can also be a bit of a treat when pulling out…