Consider this

               Every year, my brother and I do a week long motorcycle trip together.   This year’s version consisted of driving rain, hail, broken tent poles, three inches of water in my basement at home, two flooded vehicles and a wind so strong that it blew us off the highway and into the ditch.   It was the worst vacation ever!                 Standing on the on the side of the road in the middle of North Dakota with rain pounding down on me, I began to think, “This should not be happening to me!   I am a nice guy who tries to help people all the time. I deserve better than this!”   Honestly, though, that is not true.   In fact, it is not even logical.   Bad things happen all the time, so why should I be exempt from them?   Logically speaking, bad things ought to happen to me once in a while.   ...

                “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.   When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought the field” (Matthew 13:44).                     If our faith is going to be alive and meaningful, we must focus on the treasure and not on the field.                 Years ago, I knew a girl who seemed to have it all.   She was popular, bright and she was dating one of the best athletes in the school.   It seemed like everything was going her way.   However, years later, life has not gone according to plan and now she finds herself in a very difficult place.   God is still blessing her, but she does not seem to know it.   If she could just se...

               When reading the Bible, it is important to pay attention to the small details of the stories.   Often, those details are the point.                   For example, in Genesis 13 Abram (or “Abraham” as he is more well known) and his nephew Lot have a problem.   Their flocks and herds have become so large that the land cannot support both of them, so Abram comes up with a plan.                 He said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herdsmen and mine… Is not the whole land before you?   Let’s part company.   If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right.   If you go to the right, I’ll go to the left” (verses 8-9).            ...

                It seems that everyone I know is planting a garden this year.   Even those who have had no interest in gardening before are building raised beds and talking about which variety of tomato grows best around here. My grandparents always had a garden and as did Sara’s Dad, so I know a little bit about them.   In fact, I think that gardens can remind us of some important spiritual truths.                 For example, gardening is all about expectation and anticipation.   Those are two of my favourite words these days.   When you plant a garden, you do not plant the finished product.   Rather, you plant seeds hoping that they will become something fruitful.   Gardening is an investment of time and energy now so that you can reap the rewards later.        ...

               There are times when our problems seem insurmountable and no matter how hard we try we cannot find a way out.   When that happens, it is easy to just give up, pout and feel sorry for ourselves.   One day, though, Jesus’ disciples discovered another option.                   Thousands of people had gathered to hear Jesus’ teaching.   As evening fell, the disciples looked over the crowd and realized that they had a problem, so they found Jesus and said, “This is a remote place and it is already very late.   Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat” (Mark 6:35-36).   Jesus’ responded, “You give them something to eat” (verse 37). Suddenly the disciples had a problem that they did not create and could not handle.   After ...

            Telling people off feels good, doesn’t it?               Most people are too polite to admit that, but I know the feeling that comes after setting someone straight.   I feel smart because I was able to point out someone’s stupidity.   I am proud that I spoke my mind.       It feels good to let people have it! That is until I realize that my angry rant did a lot more harm than good.   Anger is a bottom-level emotion because it takes no thought or effort.   Anger is simply reactive.   Other emotions, such as compassion, require us to see the situation in new ways and imagine what it must be like to be the other person.   Anger does not require that because it is rooted in selfishness.   Most of my anger has nothing to do what is actually right or wrong.   Rather, it is based on the fact that my thoughts a...

            My wife, Sara, loves birds, so in the spring I get daily reports that go something like this: “The chickadees are back…. I saw a Robin today…. Ooh, I hear a woodpecker over there!”   She gets excited when she sees hawks floating on the breeze.   Our backyard is filled with bird feeders and we get more than our share of feathered visitors. Over the course of our marriage, I have come to enjoy watching the birds as well.   I even know the names of some of them now.   I am especially good at spotting “Red-winged Blackbirds” (Why can’t all birds be this obviously named?).     Of course, there is nothing new going on here.   The birds have been around for my entire life.   I just never paid any attention to them.   What is new is that Sara has taught me to notice these little creatures and now I cannot stop seeing and hearing them.   They are everywhere! You will see what...