Change of Habit

As with every new year this one started with most people making resolutions. These usually have a lot to do with eating and exercise. People are motivated to improve their health in January so they join a gym. The problem with joining a gym is that you have to go to the gym and exercise [...]

Tapestry Conference – Adopt-Ed

We will be speaking at the Tapestry Conference this Saturday morning. We are thrilled and a little overwhelmed, partly because we have to present as a couple but mostly because we are sleep deprived. Our thanks to Annie McClellan (@anniemcclellan) for the following. In their session, Adopt-Ed, Ryan and Kayla will focus on educating parents to educate educators [...]

The Sweetness of a Child

Jesus had a lot to say about children while he was on earth. He taught that unless we changed and became like little children we would never enter the kingdom of heaven. I had a lesson in this on Sunday morning. Our seven year old daughter Tori lost a tooth last week. She always asks [...]

Reach for the Stars

Dr. Martin Luther King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His acceptance speech at the awards ceremony in Oslo on December 10 of that year included the following: I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present nature makes him [...]

Culture Club

Something that has happened over the years is that we tend to spend more time with families that look like ours. Foster families. Adoptive families. Multiracial families.You get the point. We love being around people who get who we are as a family. There is great comfort being around like minded people. As we are drawn [...]

Healing Homes

I love music. I love listening to music, I love playing music, I love watching music, I love almost any kind of music. Pandora is on more than the TV at our house. One of my favorite artists is Third Day. Some years ago they released a song called Cry Out to Jesus. Here is [...]

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

One of the most famous parables in the Bible is that of the Good Samaritan. It is, in fact, so famous we have Good Samaritan laws. It describes how we treat those we don't know. It does post an interesting and difficult question. It goes to the heart of something that we contemplate for our [...]