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Merry Christmas
One Christmas Season, Dad felt at the apex of frustration with his stage four cancer diagnosis. Worn out and weary to the bone, he tried to navigate both the physical and emotional work of managing his pain.
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Life Experience
Each life experience has the potential to reward us three times. #1. The Preparation Experience. Potentially, this can be an exciting time. Anticipation, hoping, planning and preparing are good things.
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Henri Nouwen’s 3 Thoughts That Heighten Anxiety
Before going into the three thoughts that heighten anxiety, first, let’s consider what the scripture says: “be anxious for nothing.” That is an interesting expectation. Be anxious about zero situations, zero scenarios.
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Sea of Love
I like to break down verses word for word. “Cast all your cares.” What an image that is, one especially given to us from St. Peter who would know all about the skill of casting.
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Advent
This season as we celebrate Advent, I consider what it means to prepare. What are we preparing? We prepare food, a place for guests to stay, we prepare presents, decorations, traveling accommodations, and schedules.
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Artistic Love
One of the gorgeous books we are reading as a family is by Makoto Fujimura called “Art is a journey into the light.” He and his wife are dear friends of ours.
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Giving Away Thankfulness
Why should Thanksgiving be limited to one calendar day a year? Giving thanks can be so much more than watching football all day, eating piles of delicious food that later make us miserable, Christmas shopping, a four-day weekend.…
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Artist Work
Shann and I went with our daughter Bella as part of a ministry team to work with children born into brothels.
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Personal Guarantee
Imagine making a blanket guarantee that all things, meaning everything in your life, will work out for good! Consider this life guarantee written by St.
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Full of Wishes
I love Henri Nouwen. I imagine him spending time with Dad in heaven. Henri always longed for a deeply loving friend, and he would have found that in Dad.
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Contemplating Compassion
Two passages of scripture have been resonating in my mind. The first is Jesus healing the widow’s only son and not only healing but raising him from the dead.
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Change Is Inevitable
Change is all around us ! There is a constant alteration, meaning a difference from one condition to another.
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Light to my Path
Dad loved Ignatius. He had a very Ignatian sensibility as a coach. Ignatius knew his call was to help people move toward a healed life through Christ.
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Trick or Treat
5 BILLION spent on Halloween each year; the second biggest money making celebration of the year. Who said capitalism is dead? 2000 years ago the Celts believed they could talk with the visiting dead.
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The Importance of Pain
One of the gifts my dad gave me was curiosity and the discipline to seek out the “why” of life. My dad understood the need for curiosity around complex issues and topics such as suffering and pain.
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God-Breathed
My dad and I memorized 2 Timothy 3:16-17. They are verses I have held with me for most of my life. I memorized them in Birmingham, Alabama when I was seven.
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Completely
I have been meditating again on what made Dad such a wonderful father. He was a dear father because he knew how to love well. Part of the deepest aspect of love is the gift of friendship.
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Cup of Joy
A cup of joy has the potential to give more vitality than a cup of joe. Do we really believe this? Ask 65% of adult Americans who delight in their daily cup of joe.
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Love as Witness
My husband is a genocide researcher. He looks back in history at the times when one people group hoped to eliminate another people group through bloodshed, famine, or other forms of harm.
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Cheering On
Our daughter Ariana is on the National Tour of The Sound of Music . What joy for our family!
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Solution for Tiredness
We all need IRON in our bodies and also in our social lives. Are you aware of this? IRON IN THE BODY Iron is a mineral that the body needs for growth and development.
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Not Overcome
Shann’s new novel, Where Blackbirds Fly , releases officially today. It was a long journey full of suffering. He would start writing at 10:00 or 11:00 pm.
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Bonhoeffer on Death
“…LIFE ONLY BEGINS WHEN IT ENDS HERE ON EARTH” – Bonhoeffer St. Paul has often been quoted, “Death where is thy victory, where is thy sting?” In some mysterious way, both the apostle Paul and German martyr Dietrich…
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Forgiven and Forgiving
Look at this beautiful interaction Jesus has with both a Pharisee and a woman in the Book of Luke.
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Just the Right Time
In my walk as a Christian for many years, one of the biggest surprises to me is how consistent God is at surprising me when I feel the most need for Him.
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GAME ON – Win the Moment!
Basketball has taught me that victory comes when you bounce back from difficulty. Lifeball is a far tougher game to play than basketball. Psalm 100 is my bedrock to come back from a rough day.
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Amazed
The scripture reading today focused on the word, “amazed.” I consider this word prayerfully. In the Greek it is not a fleeting feeling, but something we feel in our core.
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Beneath the Surface
My dad could discern the root motives of others. He could look past the behavior and see the unconscious compulsions of shame, envy, greed, selfishness, or fear.
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Why Jesus
I sense that some people from other sports industries look with disdain at me on any praise delivered to “Jesus” as though I am delivering something fanatical or cultish.
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First Word Joy
I have a sign on my office door that I made that reads, “First Word Joy.” I consider how differently my day begins when I select to focus on delight in God, life, and people.
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Honest Guilt
My dad was an incredible father precisely because he created a home where we could point out ways he was not a great father, and he would ask forgiveness and change.
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Just Like That
My daughter Natalya prayed every night for months that her sister would have red hair like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. At first, we thought she would outgrow it, but she was relentless.
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Waiting for the Shoe to Drop
I am sitting in my office feeling a mixture of hope and a small sense of dread. My dad’s picture is to my right. I consider how he would like me to live right now.
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Dear Friends
Our scripture memory verse this past week was 1 Peter 4:12-13. It begins, “Dear Friends.” The words in Greek translates as “those who are beloved, deeply loved.” Who are these dear friends in your life?
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What is God asking?
What is God asking of me? The question could be rephrased, “What is LOVE asking of me?” The list of what love is and is not is a good place to start.
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Salvation Joy
There is nothing like watching someone experience salvation joy. Last week, a young coach stopped by our office. His face glowed, he smiled ear to ear, and there was an inner light.
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Moved
I love listening to stories of scripture. I spend time with the familiar story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus tells this story in response to a question about how we should be living our life.
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Psalm 34
We are memorizing Psalm 34 as a staff. Some are working on verses 1-4, and some are trying for all 22 verses.
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Not a Machine
My dad was not mechanical. He could not look at a problem in the house and fix it. My dad was relational, and he understood life at an emotional and spiritual level.
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Difficulty
The NBC office staff and I are memorizing Romans 5:3-5. It is a powerful and counterintuitive passage.
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Happy Father’s Day
Happy Father’s Day is so much more than a just a happy… Father’s… day… There are at last three valuable celebrations during this day to honor Fatherhood.
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Never Forgotten
We recently visited a church on Stanford University’s campus. It is magnificent and breathtaking.
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Winning the Battle
I have been invited to speak on several podcasts lately, and the hosts are curious about my father and the practice of forgiveness in our home.
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Desperate Child Needs
The need to belong and to have something of value to belong to; the need to have success and be recognized for this success; the need to love and be loved.
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Jewels or Snakes
I am thinking about Numbers 21:6-9 and the snakes again that bit and killed the thankless people of God.
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Feasting in the House of God
I flew to Cambridge, UK again with Shann. We spent time with a lovely Christian artist who wrote a song called, “We Will Feast in House of Zion.” Her name is Sandra, and she has a tender quietness…
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Curiosity Trumps Anger
Curiosity opens doors; anger closes doors. The Apostle James gives us solid counsel when he said, “Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger for anger never brings about the righteous life God desires for…
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The Miracle of Hope
My dad loved his mother. She was the saving grace in a home full of pain and suffering. Her death profoundly influenced my dad. He became agnostic for a while because of it.
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Words of Home: This is Home
I am reading aloud a beautiful book to my mom. It is called the White Stone by Esther de Waal.
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God as Love
I have been contemplating God as Love and a God with emotions like anger. It is a deeply unsettling space. So many beautiful theologians throughout history have wrestled at this nexus.
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Words and Snakes
I read an interesting passage of scripture from the Old Testament. It is the story of the complaining Israelites who are unhappy about being in the desert.
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Immeasurably More
I love Ephesians 3:14-21 and try to pray it every day. I love to go slowly through each verse imagining the person I am praying for. It is such a beautiful prayer.
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Servant Leadership
Leading up to Easter, our church participated in a foot washing service in remembrance of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples.
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Helpless Take Heart
Hope is helpful if you find yourself in a position much like myself, helpless take heart are words that speak loudly. This sun-filled, blue-sky May morning inspired these words gleaned from David in Psalm 33 and 34.
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How to be Uncommon
At a group I attended, a woman shared her story of hatred toward her stepfather. She said he verbally and emotionally abused her and made her teen years miserable.
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In Celebration of Marrying Young
Shann and I will be married for thirty-five years this June. A young man asked us if we were glad we married young in light of so many people feeling they made mistakes by marrying too soon.
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Divine Imagination
In the Bible study Shann and I are part of, this week’s task is to spend time with a 10 year vision of what God is doing in your life and what He is asking of you.
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A Simple Choice
Near Lidice, the town razed by the Nazis, the Children of Czechia invited the children of Germany to plant a rose garden. Fifty-one counties sent roses for them to plant, over 100,000 roses.
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Do Not Forget God
We visited a few World War II sites in Prague recently. We drove to the genocide site of Lidice, razed by the Germans after the assassination of Heydrich. The Nazis shot all the men behind a barn.
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Lift up Someone
“If you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up.” This is a wise statement by Booker T. Washington. A great example of lifting up others is my wife’s Grandma Jesse.
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My Last
I am in my 35th year of marriage. It is a lovely and loving time. We survived the first year of empty nesting after 27 years of children in the home. Now the house is very silent.
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Meditating on Comfort
There is a bridge in Prague that is one of the most famous in the world. Near one end is a metal statue, most of the others are entirely of stone.
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Heading to Tarshish
Jonah was heading away from the place God asked him to go. He was asked to go to Nineveh and call people to repentance.
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MENTORS – A Worthy Coach
“A worthy mentor is one of the most valuable people leaders, parents, coaches, and peoples of all professions can have in navigating through life.” – Jennifer Crowell Ferch The two vital qualifications of a mentor are one who…
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A New Legacy
What is a good father? What attributes would you list? A good listener, compassionate, thoughtful? Dad thought often about the qualities of a good father and was intentional about wanting to be a good father.
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Everyone Has a Lord
This is to be very personal, so let’s approach this as a personal one-on-one conversation even though it is a monologue.
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Fulfillment
Our family line had a burning desire to be remarkable. I know my dad wrestled with this internal drive. He continuously worked to move his sense of self-worth away from achievement and into being.
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Collecting the Pieces
I love art museums. They are one of my favorite places on the planet. I can spend hours there. I love the stories behind the works of art just as well.
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Blood and Happiness
The incredible human machine has an approximately 10-ounce heart that pumps blood through the entire body.
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The Cost of Love
One of my favorite things to do is go to a beautiful church and pray. If Shann and I are together and we are the only ones in the church, we will sing together.
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The Right Path
I recently met a man who is wrestling with his faith. He is skeptical yet wants to believe. He is reading a variety of religious texts because he fears making a wrong decision.
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Cup of Joy Overflowing, Part III
“Fred, why do so few people have joy?” Elegant question! To answer, I let my mind wander, do some speculation. In today’s world, we seem to base our lives on Feeling, Fact, and then Faith .
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Answered Prayer
My husband Shann wrote the libretto for an opera about the life of Zechariah and Elizabeth highlighting the human suffering of barrenness.
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Pondering Schism
I find myself reflecting on a troubling trend emerging within church communities. This issue revolves around the contrasting doctrinal narratives concerning God’s love and His wrath.
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LOVE-what is it? Why is it important?
For reasons I cannot explain the whole idea and notion of love has been gripping my mind and heart. The easy thing to do is ask SIRI to give me a definition of love.
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Relational Errors
As human beings, we all make mistakes. Often, we unintentionally hurt those around us. While saying, “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” may provide some comfort, it doesn’t truly fix the situation.
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Closet Prayer
I love C.S. Lewis. I just read a book about his friendship and struggles with J.R.R. Tolkien. They lost some of their joy for one another toward the end of their lives.
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Co-Creativity
The NBC Team is exploring one of our core missional words – creativity. We discuss how quickly people claim they are not creative. Yet creativity is imparted to every person from God.
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Transitions
My husband Shann and I love Thursday date nights. They include a home-cooked meal together with candlelight and then an hour watching Stanford’s continuing education class by one of the top professors on the campus.
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Praying for Good Fathers
My friend had a difficult father. He was complementary but distant to her. They had limited time together. He was unfaithful to her mom. My friend still struggles with this relationship.
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Drive-rhythm-margin
Life without balance between drive, rhythm, and margin is like driving an automobile with tires out of balance. It can be done; however, the journey is unpleasant.
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Praying with Hope
I have been praying for many years for two gifts. They both were answered the same week. I laughed and cried with joy at their fulfillment. How immediately the dread lifted. What a gift!
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Take a Planned Timeout!
Coaching basketball taught me many life-related concepts. These principles just appeared on the court! One example is a timeout. To take a break, intermission, breather becomes a time to refocus.
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Creative Affirmations
Scripture tells us, “In the beginning was the word and the word was God.” I consider the coding of our DNA, I consider the world of words, the messages that speak to us day and night.
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Wintering
In Spokane, the winter strips the leaves from our deciduous trees. I notice without the garment of green, the trees appear gnarled and exposed. I think of this image as a metaphor for difficulty.
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Timeout
My dad loved timeouts. This is not a punishment and it’s unfortunate that this language is connected to punishment. Timeouts are crucial for our health, for taking a step back, and for reevaluating.
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For Goodness Sake
For New Year’s Eve, our family members selected a lovely card to write down our yearly intentions.
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Rpg
I have been signing cards recently with the acronym RPG. It’s my true north right now. When I get confused, anxious, unsure how to spend my time or focus my thoughts, it is my way forward.
