God, an Etch-A-Sketch, and Reasons I Hate My Brother

Before the days of electronic travelling bliss such as dvd players and the Nintendo DS, we had old faithful—captain Etch-a-Sketch. What a machine-o-wonder this was. Come to think of it, Etchy has to be the grandfather of the iPad. You could make anything as long as you didn’t have to disconnect a line. Some kids drew self portraits or replicas of the Taj Mahal. I was never quite that artistic.

English: The Taj Mahal, complete with ripples ...

My friends’ creations always looked like this.

The classic red-and-white Etch A Sketch model

Mine looked like this.

My biggest achievement was filling the entire screen with black lines. Continue Reading →

When Faith Gets Messy

Some think I’m slightly insane. After reading the following, you may agree, and I’m perfectly okay with that.

Yesterday we spent some time with our nearest and dearest friends, Nate and Dawniel. They just lost their brother-in-law, a local police officer named Justin, while he was on duty. The entire town has quickly rallied to support his widow, Danielle, and their three young sons, all under age 6. We sat with our closest friends, and we talked, and we shared, and we cried. It was gut wrenching. Continue Reading →