“Dear Lord, may they see you. Get me out of the way so they see you.” I prayed this simple prayer as I was preparing to lead a neighborhood Bible study. I had never prayed a prayer like this before. Here’s how my prayers have been in the past: “Dear Lord, please help the video to work tomorrow. Please help me to say the right thing. Please help my kids to not be sick so it doesn’t mess up my plans. Please help everything to go perfectly. Oh, and please, please, please let the

“What is going on?” I said to myself when my flight was delayed again. I’d landed alone in Hong Kong after a 15-hour trip from San Francisco and was waiting to board for mainland China. The woman next to me surprised me by answering, “there’s been a terrible earthquake; you need to call your mom and let her know you’re alive.” I think I thanked her and was off. On the way, I passed TVs that showed footage of the devastation happening where I was going, Sichuan province in Chi

If you look at my website, you’ll see that I write about leadership. If you look at my blog, you won’t find a single blog on leadership until now. Why is this, you ask? I haven't known where to begin. Leadership training classes and books that I've read spin through my head every time I approached the subject of leadership. So, I'm starting with me. I've never taken the time to create my own set of leadership principles until now. I've always worked for organizations that wou

“Does what I am doing really matter?” My friend uttered this question to me as I sat next to her, and I instantly related to her question. How many times have I asked myself that same question? That question has crept into my mind during some of my past employment. Now, it creeps into my mind as I stand at my kitchen sink washing dishes for the third time in one day. I desire for my life to have a purpose. All of us have an intrinsic desire for purpose. We want our lives to m

Expectant. I am filled with excitement and anticipation as I stare down the final countdown to Christmas and New Years. I look forward to 2018 and the opportunity to serve you through words. I’m also ready to bid a firm “see ya later” to 2017. 2017 was hard. We walked through the hard “after the airport” days of adoption. (OK, I walked through the hard “after the airport” days. Everyone else was just fine, but that’s for another post.) We said goodbye to family and friends th

I love the local church. I’ve spent half of my life in a church building between growing up as a pastor’s kid and working in the church. Basically, I’m a self-proclaimed church expert. I could tell you hilarious, roll-on-the-floor-laughing stories about old ladies with bathroom issues and baptisms gone awry. I can also tell you heartbreaking stories about the hard and hurtful times for me and my family. I’ve seen it all, and I love it in spite of the hard times. I don’t know