Twenty-thousand of Our Closest Friends

We’re throwing a party in our neighborhood this weekend. Local officials estimate 20,000 people could show up over the entire two-day event. That is a pretty big deal since only about 200 of us actually live here. Our community is famous for being strange....

Girl Clothes

Last weekend I stepped way out of my comfort zone and into a moss-green bridesmaid’s dress for the sake of my sweet friend, Angela. I felt more like the Queen Mum than a princess, and I had some great trepidation about making it down the aisle and up the three...

The Problem with Numbers

I once read that Albert Einstein didn’t know his own phone number. He said it was a waste to crowd his brain by memorizing information that could easily be found in a book. I’m pretty sure that is an urban rumor. But I use it a lot to cover my own...

The One Who Was Missing

Charity and her family at the beach this summer.It was a crazy time to have a baby. Wendell was in his second year of medical school, and we were living on student loans that had already exceeded ten years of his previous salary. We had also exceeded the highly...

Not Your Normal Church Service

Sunday night was graduation at our church. This happens about once a month. We live in an unusual community, and our congregation includes a couple hundred people who are in discipleship programs for recovery from alcohol, drugs, or some other life-controlling...