I wear plaid. I'm a blogger.

How to tell if your child is related to you, in 5 easy steps: 1) Does he choose to eat half a banana in one bite, smashing it into the deepest pockets of his cheeks to allow for maximum food storage while he chews? He probably picked up on that trick after watching you eat an entire piece of cake in one bite. Sure, he might almost gag on it, but he seems to be proud of himself so you should be proud too. 2) Does he crave seconds of chocolate milk shortly after you poured the first big cup for him? While technically you both know that milk isn't refreshing, you guzzle it down because it tastes so good. And why not tink your glasses together to create a little "cheers" moment while you do so? This is America, after all. 3) Does he request to eat cereal for lunch? Yes, lunch is technically one of those savory meals of the day, but when it's dad-and-me time, why not indulge with a little honey bunches of oats for lunch? Now that's nutrition! 4) Does he opt to ...

Last night Katie and I were blessed to attend a concert at CCU with some friends from church. Overall it was a very uplifting experience and was a great chance to enjoy quality Christian music and remember what was really important in this life. The evening was sponsored by LiveLove  who advocates for social justice globally. There was a 22 year old girl who spoke about her call to minister to girls in brothels in Greece, where women are regularly objectified and men are encouraged to visit brothels by peers and parents alike. There were some other crazy empowering stories that people shared about getting muddy in the trenches of Christendom working with the impoverished and underprivileged, but you can check out those stories on their website if you want to learn more there. The thing that I was really struck with while listening to the Christian artists was an overwhelming sense of forgiveness for my sins. I strive to live a life free of sin in my day-to-day routine that I...

I am going to pose two questions for you: 1)       Would you rather get paid $1,000,000 up front to work for me for 30 days, or would you rather I pay you a penny on the first day and double your salary everyday thereafter for 30 days? 2)       Would you rather start a Billy Graham-worthy revival or minister to one person over the course of a year? Let’s take a look at Question 1. Likely your gut instinct told you to take the million dollars and do the work. That would be a pretty sweet deal. But if you went with the penny route, you would see a much bigger yield in your income towards the end of the 30 days. By the end of first week you would be making less than a dollar a day and by the end of the second week you would still be making less than $85 per day. By the end of the third week however, you would be making over $10,000 per day , and by day 30 you would collect over $5million dollars in one day. Day 1: $.01 Day 2:...

So we got to see The Piano Guys in concert tonight. They were awesome. Some thoughts... Expression through music.  These guys are 100% expressive when they play. They are as genuinely expressive as any performer of music can be. Through happy/major passages there is a look of pure joy and pleasure on Steve's face. During descending minor passages a furrowed brow crosses his face. They are so connected to the music that their very performance of the music is lyrical.  I so often disconnect myself from the music in my analytical way. I try to understand it, I try to calculate how and why it is making me feel a certain way. It has been years since I just put on an album and listened to it from front to back just for the sake of enjoying music.  I wonder if I do the same thing with Christianity. Do I spend so much time trying to figure out God that I forget to just enjoy Him?  I find myself challenged to soak in music for art's sake and to soak in God just ...