A Better Facebook

Facebook is an interesting space. Most of us have a love-hate relationship with it. Some hate it more than others so much so that they have abandoned it. For many there is a sense that there is not enough good on Facebook to outweigh the bad, so they discard the whole thing. Others know themselves well enough to realize they don’t have the self control to avoid being sucked into the mind-numbingness that can happen with a Facebook addiction, so they  have deleted their accounts and avoid it completely.

Leaving Church

A few months ago Sandy and I made the painful decision to leave the church that we had been part of for over 20 years. It was a decision we agonized over for a couple of years. In some ways we were absent long before we physically left, but walking away on that last Sunday, knowing we wouldn’t be back, was still difficult. It was, after all, the church where we raised and baptized our two children. It was the church where we served in many leadership roles. It was the church where I saw my middle school students. It was the church that we had poured ourselves into for many, many years. No matter what happens, those roots run deep, and pulling them up does not happen without some pain and mourning.

One Life to Live, One Story to Tell

I remember taking Colby to the beach in Morro Bay, California when he was two. I carried him through the thick sand towards the water. His mom, Sandy, spread out a blanket and we all sat down to take off our shoes. Lifting Colby up we held his hands and started walking toward the ocean. But when Colby left the blanket and his feet hit the sand he began to cry. He hated the feel of the sand on his feet, not because it was hot, but because it was gritty and dirty. As a child Colby didn’t like to be dirty, he liked everything clean, neat and organized. Even at his first birthday we tried to have him do the traditional dive into birthday cake, but he wouldn’t have it. He was hesitant even to touch it. When a little frosting covered two of his fingers he grew concerned, heading towards tears, and wanted someone to remove the stickiness. As much as we tried to encourage him to enjoy the moment of glorious cake, he simply couldn’t bring himself to get messy.