MetroMonk

My son started kindergarten today. He is my oldest, and today, like most kids, he started school. He was so excited today (what a blessing for me), but there is also some apprehension within me. I believe it's natural for that fear to be there. Will he be ok? Will other kids be nice? Will he be bullied? Will he be scared? Will he get embarrassed? There are so many things that could happen, BUUUTTT , I can't really let that fear control me. I must breathe. Inhale. Exhale.  Today my son starts a new school in a new place that we just moved to 3 weeks ago. Getting here (to NC) has been quite the faith journey and story. The Lord has been with us the whole way- in big ways and little. I believe he's with my son as well as the rest of the children in school. He's with all of us. He's near, so very near. I was thinking, shortly after I dropped him off, about some of the great ironies of parenting. For instance, the first 0-6 years of life for a child are...

Sometimes faith makes no sense. At the same time, faith doesn't always transcend experience and reason. God is reasonable, and sometimes, he is not. Right? It is definitely true that the Lord speaks to use through common sense and knowledge, but what happens when what you feel and hear make no logical sense?  This is what has been happening to me and my family. But this post isn't about trying to make sense of it or trying to explain faith- this post is about my decision to LIVE OUT LOUD.  When we began this journey to move I really didn't want to tell anyone. I just wanted to head out at the 11th hour and tell people once I had everything all figured out, but nothing went according to my plan. Looking back on it, I suppose the Lord did answer my prayer and have his way. People found out. Everyone found out it seemed. Random people my wife and I never really talked to came up to us and said, "so I hear you're moving." We were surprised at how fast the ...

Seven seems to be a special number for me. I don't know why, but it is what it is. After seven years with the Young Life organization in Libertyville, IL, I decided to just up and change everything. Libertyville will always be my first love, but people thought I was crazy. I had poured my heart into that place. I had great friends and everything, but I felt Lord stirring and so my wife and I decided to uproot and plant some place else- a place where we did not know. Unfortunately, our decision was not met positively. My friends and colleagues thought I was foolish and some were even angered with me. However, it was a decision heavily steeped in prayer. It was a hard decision, but Lord was moving within us and we were certain of that.  The Lord led us to Midland, MI. I have a lot I could say about Midland, MI, but all in all, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Midland will always be a very important chapter in my life. We bought our 1st house, have had two wonder...

This is my journey. I'd rather look back on the journey that I'm currently on and tell you all how crazy it all was, how I was scared and full of anxiety, how I didn't know what life would be like in a month from now, and how God made everything come together and it was great. I would like to, but that's not how I'm approaching this time in my life. I want to share a front seat  It's all been so backwards. This is how we did it- we told our employers we're moving, we sold our house, we moved into a short-term lease apartment (oh, we move out a week from today, because out lease it up), and we have no jobs and no place to go.  Usually it would go like this- Our employer is transferring or relocating us (so we know we have a job some place else), we start looking for a place to live, we have a definitely end date in mind, we move and we know where we're going. Thus, there's some security in mind.  Why would we do this? (By the way, the ...

Days come and go, People come and go, My coffee is always warm, And The Lord is always there! Tweet

I have a special place in my heart for the cigar community.   No matter where I go to light up a cigar I always meet such interesting people and hear incredible stories. The best conversations I have are always around a cigar. It doesn't matter what town I'm in, how I'm dressed or what my profession is. I always meet nice people and have significant conversations with other people around cigars. I could go on and on with one story after the next, but there's one story in particular that I want to share to illustrate why I feel how I do about the great community that is the Cigar Community. Recently I had to travel to Indianapolis for a wedding. Upon my arrival at the church I saw a man walking back into the church shed, he looked like he had just got done with mowing the grass, and he had a cigar in his mouth. I thought, "Perfect, maybe he can tell me where I can pick up some cigars for me and my buddies to smoke that night."  I followed him into the s...

Don't Forget, Remember! 9/11 & the stories of our lives.  One of my favorite times the end of each and everyday is story time. "Daddy, books tonight?" "Of course" I reply. "How about 3 or 4 tonight?" my son usually asks back. "Nah, how about just two. Maybe an extra if you're lucky" I say. I don't know what it is, but he is always so lucky. There are so many stories; scary stories, sappy stories, superhero stories. There are stories about trucks, planes, animals, and even going potty for the first time. My children love stories. Often they imagine themselves in the stories and the story takes on a whole new life of its own. It's as if there is some automatic response that each kid does when hearing certain stories (at least with mine), they immerse themselves into it. Before my oldest was tolerant of sitting and having a book read to him, I would ask him what elements he would like me to plug into the story. He was alwa...