Follow Jesus. Lead the church. Change the world.
A year ago, Centre Grove’s church council began reading Bishop Robert Schnase‘s Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. I’m blogging the journey and have written several posts tagged Five Practices. It’s been a while since I’ve written about our experience with the Five Practices, partly because we’ve been slowly making our way through Intentional Faith Development … Read more
We got up and left early this morning for a district pastor’s gathering with the Bishop in State College. Shortly after arriving home this afternoon, it was time for the kids’ afternoon naps. Later, we got the kids up in time for a quick dinner before both of us headed off to evening meetings (we … Read more
I am surprised by how often the theme of success vs. significance shows up in movies, that is, that significance is more important than success, or that relationships are more important than career. The basic storyline usually involves a main character who becomes so focused on success that they eventually alienate those around them, usually … Read more
On New Year’s Day, we had photos taken at JCPenney Portrait Studios. (See a couple previous episodes when Ethan turned 2 as well as our first time, when Ethan was Sarah’s current age). Yesterday’s experience wasn’t the smoothest, but we were somehow able to get a few decent shots. Below are our favorites, honorable mentions, … Read more
New Year’s is one of my favorite times of the year, and the week between Christmas and New Year’s — the last week of the calendar year — tends to be a time of reflection (looking back) and refocusing (looking ahead). And the fact that it’s our first week back after family leaves, makes it … Read more
Our family leave (8 weeks plus 2 weeks of vacation) ended Sunday, and Monday was our first day back to work, so we thought it might be a good time to write an update on how things are going with our bonding and adjustment. It’s been a little while since we’ve posted an update. For … Read more
Our first Christmas as a family of four was a lot of fun. Christmas morning began early when Ethan got up around his normal time. We woke Sarah up earlier than her normal wake-up time (which could have been risky!) so that she and Ethan could experience Christmas together. Grandma and Grandpa Willis were also … Read more
We haven’t posted too many photos in a while, so here are a few from the last couple weeks, leading up to our first Christmas as a family of four.
Too often we get so comfortable with what’s familiar that we stop looking for other ways, including better ways, of doing things. We live by the cliché, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” (actually, I like “If it ain’t broke, break it!” better!). We settle for less and it stifles our growth. But, years … Read more
When I was a (20 year-old) kid, trying to figure out what God was doing in my life as I sensed a call to ministry/leadership, I tried to learn as much as I could from others in ministry. I talked to the Christ-following leaders I knew or came in touch with while in college. In … Read more