Tag: Faith

Choosing to Honor What is Truly Valuable

I traveled quite a bit when my children were young. I led outreach teams to foreign countries and could be gone for several weeks at a time. We didn’t have a lot of money, and so when it came to bringing gifts home to… Continue Reading “Choosing to Honor What is Truly Valuable”

Choosing From Where I Seek Help

For some reason it’s painful to admit that I’m not a handyman. Sure, I have taught myself how to fix some things around the house. But, I have also created a lot of messes. The bottom-line issue has almost always been to save money.… Continue Reading “Choosing From Where I Seek Help”

Choosing to Believe Anyway

“He will order His angels to protect you.”  These words from Psalm 91 are a great comfort for many people right now. It says in verse 6, “Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday” (NLT). What a… Continue Reading “Choosing to Believe Anyway”

Choosing Real Love

I was in Lhasa, Tibet the first time I saw someone physically bow in worship to a statue. The Buddhist temple was filled with smoky incense, and dozens of people prostrated before a grinning image. Sunday-school stories of the ancient Israelites giving offerings to… Continue Reading “Choosing Real Love”

Choosing to See Beyond What’s in Front of Me

How many plans have been started with grand vision and then abandoned because of how insignificant and underwhelming the idea later felt? My visionary follow-through often struggles. Emotions of discouragement settle in when the glorious things I imagine don’t swiftly materialize.  Not seeing an… Continue Reading “Choosing to See Beyond What’s in Front of Me”

Choosing My Building Materials

I first became a homeowner when I was 25. It was a small run-down rental in a suburb of Sacramento, California. My wife and I decided we could buy it at a good price and “fix it up” ourselves in preparation for our soon-to-arrive… Continue Reading “Choosing My Building Materials”

Choosing to Live Sensibly

Most people have done things they look back upon and view as a bit wacky. “What was I thinking?” Sometimes they were done for love. Sometimes they were done to relieve boredom. Sometimes they were done for the thrill and attention. And sometimes they… Continue Reading “Choosing to Live Sensibly”

Choosing Redemption for My Imagination

It was a cold night in late October when I saw Saint Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow, Russia with my own eyes. I was carrying my one-year-old son, and my wife had the hands of our other two small children as we hurried across Red… Continue Reading “Choosing Redemption for My Imagination”

Choosing to Give What I Have

How many plans have been started with grand vision and then abandoned because of how insignificant and underwhelming the idea later felt? My visionary follow-through often struggles. Emotions of discouragement settle in when the glorious things I imagine don’t swiftly materialize. Not seeing an… Continue Reading “Choosing to Give What I Have”

Choosing to Remember

It’s December 7th–Pearl Harbor Day. Seventy-nine years ago, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise aerial attack on the American naval base in Honolulu, Hawaii. In the harbor, 21 American ships were sunk or damaged, leaving over 2400 American servicemen killed that morning and… Continue Reading “Choosing to Remember”