Family
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Every Kid Included
I’ve seen it, and it’s sad. It’s sad that it would happen anywhere, but when it happens in one particular location, it is heartbreaking. And it really hurts when it’s your own kid. It’s when, for some reason, a young person is not part of the youth group. Oh, they are part of it by age or grade, but, for all intents and purposes, they are outside the group. And it’s as much the fault of the adults in charge as it is the young people who are being taught. Of course kids (yes, even church kids) can form little clans and can, at times, be quite mean about things.…
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A Proverb We Saw in Real Time on Saturday
As I have said before, I very rarely write articles about recent things. I typically have articles–at least in idea or rough draft form–a few weeks in advance. However, this article is based on the recent event of an attempted assassination of former President and current Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump. And, by the way, I would write the same article if something tragically similar had happened to Joseph R. Biden or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. We live in a time of many words. I am grateful to live in a time where I can read anything from longer books to Instagram captions, basically whenever I want. It is wonderful…
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Often Overlooked – Usually Unappreciated – Absolutely Indispensable
They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. They are found in every geographic area on the globe. They reside in sparsely populated rural areas and in the most densely populated cities. They speak a variety of languages, have different ideas and attitudes about a lot of things. They may or may not agree on every (or any) subject. While they may be found at every level of the “economic ladder,” their numbers seem to increase on the lower levels. You will rarely, if ever, read their names in headlines. If they are mentioned at all in news reports or other sources of information, they may not even…
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Episode 171: Couples Need to Get Away Together
https://media.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/content.blubrry.com/faughnfamily/Episode_171_Spouses_Need_to_Get_Away_Together.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS (Player not displaying or working? Click here.) In this week’s podcast, Adam and Leah talk about a recent multi-day trip they took together and why such trips are so important to a married couple. Find our podcast on… Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Stitcher TuneIn Radio RSS
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Burger King and the Church Youth Group
It really is remarkable that the fast food chain Burger King has kept its slogan for so long that I could have written this same article 10 or even 20 years ago and it would have made sense. Whether you like Burger King or not (I used to be a fan, but not so much anymore), that is quite an achievement of marketing and consistency. What is the slogan? “Have it your way.” In recent years, they have added the little tagline, “You rule” to the end, but the slogan has remained all this time. And a lot of people love BK for that. They love the idea that, whatever…
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Not Quite 23
When this post is published, Adam and Leah will have celebrated 25 years of marriage the day before. Adam wrote a beautiful tribute to both Leah and God’s institution of marriage. No one could be happier for them or respect that success more than I. I am blessed to be surrounded by many examples of faithful Christian marriages. On the other hand, I was asked to speak recently for our congregation’s newly-formed widows and single ladies group. [Side note: we are looking for a much cooler name!] As someone who fits into the second of those categories because of divorce, I am choosing to share some of what I said to…
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25 Years
On the day this post is being released, Leah and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. Fittingly, we are going to wait until tomorrow to do anything to celebrate, because we are helping Central finish out this year’s VBS tonight. I say that’s “fitting” because, I pray, that’s the way people think of us: together and serving the Lord. We are nowhere near perfect, but we see our marriage as a reflection of God’s glory in the world, and we pray that all we do through our marriage honors Him. But, today, I want to share some thoughts about the godly woman whom the Lord has let me be…
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When Life Comes to an End
I have spent the last several weeks at the hospital sitting with my only living aunt on my dad’s side of the family while her husband was slowly dying. To say it was difficult would be an understatement. You see, any time you sit at a hospital for extended periods of time is very hard. It was hard to watch him losing his battle with illness, and it was hard to watch my aunt losing her husband of 64 years. They never had any children and were totally devoted to one another. As we watched his life slipping away day after day we began to talk about what he had done in…
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A Mother’s Memory
As part of my birthday joy, my oldest son let me preview his bulletin article that will be printed this coming Sunday. In it, he shares some memories he has of interactions in our backyard. This was precious to me as it let me know I did some things right as a young mother … definitely not everything, but some things. As special as his memories were to read, I couldn’t help but think of Mary and the verses in Luke 2, one of which reads, “But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart..” (v.19) That little boy, now a young man, has no idea how…
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The Last Day
On the day this post is being released, it will be the end of the academic year for our homeschool in 2023-2024. This one, though, is one we have seen coming from the beginning, because this is Mary Carol’s final last day of high school. (It is also her last day of homeschool…there’s no way Leah is going to homeschool her through college!) I don’t write this post to be overly sentimental. I write it as a reminder to us all: when you are around people, remember that they all have things on their minds–things that are affecting them–that you may not know. I have noticed that, as this day…
