When you play with fire…

Posted in Stories
when you play with fire...

Amber and I have been feeling quite smug, of late.

I’m not sure what it was. I think it was probably the 70% rule. We’ve been trying really hard to ensure that 70% or more of our interactions with our kids are positive.

But something has changed in the boys. They fight less. They express affection more. They’re quicker to apologize to each other and to us.

It’s been quite blissful, actually.

On Sunday, after returning from church, Amber and I decided to take a much-needed nap. In the past, this has been extremely hard to do. Just when we fall asleep, the fighting begins. But this time, we were confident our newly reformed boys would leave us be.

And they did. Read more »

Will he live or will he die? Part 2

Posted in Stories
Ethan in the hospital: a story of faith

(This post is part 2 of my son’s battle with meningitis).

New hospital, same story.

Hour after hour, day after day, I smiled at Ethan, I tried to tickle him. I blew bubbles and played with puppets. All the while I pleaded–

“Please come back to me, buddy. Just one smile? Can you laugh?” Read more »

Will he live or die? A story of faith.

Posted in Stories
A story of faith

It has been almost five years since this happened–an event that changed my life forever. This is a story of faith, or how I learned to trust God enough to let His will be done, no matter what it meant for me.

September 19, 2010–A story of faith

My one-year-old looked like a corpse–his limbs as lifeless as a man on his deathbed. I paced our living room as Dr. Gilson, a chiropractor from church held the stethoscope to his chest.

This couldn’t be happening. Read more »

Ethan’s testimony

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My silly son ethan

Meet Ethan:

That about sums it up. While Corban (my oldest) is a carbon copy of Amber (empathetic, generous, and affectionate), Ethan’s mine–silly to the bone.

Amber’s parents are leaving for Africa as missionaries and we wanted to send them a good-bye gift and have each of their children share their feelings about Jesus.

What did Ethan say?

Amber turns off the camera and asks, “what was that about???”

“I was following Jesus!” he said, feigning piousness.

Amber laughed. “Let’s try this again. I want you to say something.”

And he did.

A dad couldn’t be more proud 😉