Ethan the Drummer

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Ethan has always enjoyed music and he’s always seemed to have rhythm. When we first brought him home from Korea, he would often bounce (in rhythm) to music, the sound of the washing machine, and even to Mommy filing her nails. Recently, Ethan started using pens or serving spoons, or other things like the round … Read more

Wired

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Years ago, we named this blog “Willis Wired” simply to indicate our online presence. But recently, I’ve been thinking about all the wires that seem to be required in our real lives. Up till now, we’ve tossed our various wires, cables, adapters, and power cords in a bag, but we’re getting to the point where … Read more

Overhearing Ethan

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It’s always been interesting to listen to Ethan’s chatter when he’s “alone.” We hear him chattering when he wakes up in the morning. Sometimes he rehearses his newest words. He went through a phase where he was counting things, so we’d hear him count. Of course, he often says, “Mommy” and “Daddy,” and sometimes the … Read more

Our Covenant Groups

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A couple months ago, we wrote about becoming Provisional Elders in The United Methodist Church, which took place at Annual Conference last month. Over the course of the next two years, leading up to ordination as Full Elders, we’ll have some work to do. One part of the process is to work with a Covenant … Read more

The 5th Largest Mission Field

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I recently heard that the United States is currently the fifth largest mission field in the world (third in the English speaking world), which is discussed in this article at umc.org. That’s an incredible statement! People in the U.S. have as much (or more) access to the gospel of Jesus Christ than in other nations … Read more

Managing Electronic Stuff

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While efficiency is not as important as effectiveness, efficiency is still pretty important. And it’s something I’m always trying to improve on (I’ve written posts on task management and task management 2.0). At its heart, efficiency is a matter of finding a system that works for you. There are no perfect systems because we’re all … Read more

Managing Fluid Schedules

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Every family has their own unique challenges. Recently, I described the challenge we face in our home with two extremely fluid schedules and the goal of being more intentional about scheduling family/couple time. In this post, I’ll mention one tool we’ve been using for almost a year to manage our fluid schedules: Google Calendar. With … Read more

Transition

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You’ve probably heard people talk about mentally/emotionally gearing up for the return to work near the end of their vacation. Maybe you’ve experienced it. I can’t speak for other professions or other types of work, but in ministry leadership, we don’t exactly get to lay down our call to ministry when we go on vacation. … Read more

Recalibration

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Vacation isn’t just an opportunity to catch our breath, it’s also an important opportunity to recalibrate! When I think of recalibration, I think of recalibrating a battery (e.g., a laptop or cell phone battery) — occasionally, you need to fully drain it and then recharge it (at least, that’s how I understand it). Colors on … Read more

Catching Our Breath

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Our vacation, which started yesterday, is a time for catching our breath! That’s especially true for this vacation. We’ve been through a whirlwind in the last few years that included both of us completing a doctor of ministry program, adopting our first child from Korea, and moving. In fact, completing and defending our dissertations, going … Read more