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A Seat at the Table

When I was 18, I randomly stumbled into a potential leaders meeting for a ministry called YoungLife. This happenstance changed my ministry life forever. I loved being a YoungLife leader. One of my favorite things about YoungLife was the annual summer camp trip. Wow! What an experience! I was able to load up some of my closest middle and high school friends and spend one of the best weeks of our life together. If you were to ask any of my guys what their favorite parts of camp was (aside from the spiritual aspect of it), I would bet that over 90% of them would not say it was the zip line or the bus ride or the awesome programs/games. My bet would be that they would say it was the meal times. One of the intentional things about YoungLife camp are the meal times. The tables are designed to be round, as to mimick a family style seating. Many YL kiddos have rarely, if ever, sat around the table with their own families. The first thing you'll see before the meal begins is all the lea
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The Gospel, Kaepernick and Standing...

In the news recently has been the story of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick who, in protest against police brutality, has refused to stand up for the national anthem at the beginning of his NFL games. While I fervently agree that what he is doing is disrespectful, I also understand that he is protected under his 1st amendment rights. But I didn't come here to talk about Kaepernick. His story just got me thinking of another instance where standing and sitting really struck me. There is a family at my church who I have seen the last few weeks. This family brings their son (or at least I think he is their son) who is in a wheelchair. I've watched them come in the last few weeks and I love seeing their son as he gets excited for worship! But my favorite part about observing their family's heart for worship is when their son puts his hand into his dad's hand and his dad immediately helps his son up. The son is probably in his late 20's early 30's an
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Fatherhood y'all. Nothing I have done in my life prepared me for this incredible life change. Those of you who are fathers know exactly what I am talking about. I read all the books ("Be Prepared" was my fave!), blogs, articles and took all the advice my guy friends gave me. Then, an incredible thing happened, I heard her first cry, the doctor handed her to me and all of a sudden, everything I read and heard did not prepare me for the moment I held that little life for the first time. Here are some "things the books don't teach you." 1. They don't tell you what to do when the nurse notices your daughter isn't breathing right. Amia's first night, she was struggling to breathe. She was doing something called  "Retractive breathing." Retractive breathing is when a newborn has to inhale with her ribs because she is having difficulty using her lungs. The nurse proceeded to tell me that sometimes babies who continue to breathe retra
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