Category: Thursday Thoughts

These last few weeks have been challenging for Mary Kay and me because we have two immediate family members facing imminent death. I have thought a lot about death since my mom died when she was younger than I. But I am not sure we are ever fully prepared to lose those close to us until it…

After I wrote my blog last week, I wondered if family relationships can count as some of the seasonal relationships that I wrote about.  In that blog, I described how some relationships are for a season and not for your entire life. It is, therefore, appropriate for seasonal relationships to die a natural death as…

Last week, I wrote about three principles I am learning about relationships that are in flux today because of social media. I suggested that social media, by nature of its homogenizing relationships, can cause us to fail to appreciate the diversity of relationships. As social beings, we were created with a need for healthy relationships. We are told…

This last week, Mary Kay and I got to spend some time with a mentor and friend of mine, John and Judy Boedeker. As we reflected on our lives and ministry together, I realized how many friends I have been privileged to have in my life. As I thought about my friends, it became obvious they…

I am not a detailed planner by nature, as most of you have figured out by now. One of the frustrations for Mary Kay is that I just figure out what I need to do “in the moment.” This is because she is a detailed planner and desires to have contingencies thought through long before…

I recently read a book entitled I once was lost by two IVP guys: Don Everts and Doug Schuapp. I was challenged to think about how to reach people with the Good News around me who have been exposed to all that has happened in the last twenty to forty years. Their work primarily centered on…

After what seems to be a lifetime of studying people, I am only now beginning to appreciate how different we all are. I used to hear people say, “Aren’t you glad the whole world isn’t like you?”, and deep in my mind, I would think, “That wouldn’t be too bad!” Okay, maybe I was a little arrogant,…

For the last two weeks, I have been thinking about how to grow closer to God in my walk with him. I have thought about learning to change behaviors or habits which impeded my walk with Christ. Then I wrote how easy it is to think we are more spiritual because we do or don’t do certain…

Last week I thought about how I’ve tried to establish healthy changes in my life. Obviously, I succeed and fail because it is not a mechanical process. In fact, I have noticed that when I make lifestyle changes, there is a little danger lurking behind these healthy changes.  Because I believe these habits will make…