Rite of passage: Yada Hoodies
I don’t remember how or when or even where we were when my wife and I started labeling all three grandsons collectively as the “yada hoodies.” Many times when they come walking up to our door, they are goofing around like the Keystone Cops, so calling them “yada hoodies” seemed appropriate to us. My wife got a text from my daughter-in-love one morning, saying she and the three grandsons were coming over. I was in the other room when...
Rite of Passage: Pictures and pondering
I used to be a professional photographer. For years, I worked at Community Press Photo in Chillicothe, Mo. Not only did I take wedding and commercial pictures, but I spent a lot of time in a darkroom developing film and making prints. My partner in the business was an older man named Ted Blankenship; he was more like a father than a boss. He took me under his wing when I was only 12, and I soon realized that the fastest way to make...
Rite of passage: Down Memory Lane
I spent the New Year holidays downsizing our ministry’s office. Even though I am no longer president of Awe Star Missions, I maintain an office in the building. I knew the process would be painful; I have stalled on doing it for a year and a half. Now when I say “downsizing,” I am not talking about going through a box or two, but rooms and rooms of documents, mementos, artifacts and gifts, scattered about our 7,000 square-foot office....
Rite of Passage: Rare and valuable
I have written before that I am a fan of the “Antiques Roadshow.” It’s not that I am that much into antiques; I just like the challenge to see if I can guess the value of an object. I like competition shows; I have always had a desire to be on “Jeopardy,” but there is only one problem: I found out that I am not smarter than a fifth-grader. So from the safety of my couch, I try to figure out the value of the object being shown. My goal...
Rite of Passage: ‘Invisible Underwear’
I just came back from teaching at Aztec, N.M., First, a delightful and engaging congregation. If I lived in that area, this would be the church I would attend. I know some of you may want to ask me this question: What do you do when you go speak in a church? I can answer that question in just two words: “truth” and “trust.” If it weren’t for truth, I would have nothing to say. Each week, I proclaim the truth, which is the written Word...
