Chapter 11 / Facing Your Giants When You Feel Small
Imagine the scene: a scrawny sixteen year old shepherd boy takes out a 9’9” tall giant with one rock and a sling. You may not have a gigantic giant taunting you to come out and fight. But you are probably facing a few giants of your own. Giants like the stack of past-due bills glaring […]
Chapter 10 / Giving an Undistorted View of God
Ever since Peter Stuyvesant visited the Palace of Versailles the world has had a distorted view of itself. Peter was the governor of New Amsterdam—later to be renamed New York City—beginning in 1647. He was visiting France to discuss colonial land agreements. While at Versailles he was awed by the Hall of Mirrors. Peter was […]
Chapter 9 / You Don’t Have to Wait to Be Accepted
Two sons, two rounds of college applications. Most recently our younger son Taylor scoured the literature from several universities, finally narrowing his choices. You know the routine. Visit campuses. Choose a few schools to focus on. Make applications. Fill out forms. Write essays. For anyone who hasn’t “been there, done that,” the filing of the […]
Chapter 8 / When Your Mistakes Land You Before a Judge
It was my ninth grade year at Robert E. Lee Jr. High in San Angelo, Texas. My student council job was to broadcast the morning announcements. It was the first step in my dream of becoming an on-air personality. My team and I added a little spice to the traditionally droll morning litany of announcements. […]
Chapter 7 / Face Your Battles with Strength and Courage
When someone keeps telling you to “be strong and courageous,” you might suspect you are up against something big. And the Israelites were. About to enter the land that had been promised them 600 years before, they had a giant-sized task awaiting them. Literally. Forty years earlier ten spies had come back and told the […]
Chapter 6 / Decisions You Make Affect Those Traveling With You
Every parent has been there. The trip ahead is long. The travel schedule is tight. You hit the road with a full tank, confident the plan you have crafted beats anything AAA could muster. But twenty minutes down the highway you hear a small, squeaky voice from the backseat. The artillery begins to bombard you. […]
Chapter 5 / The Home God Wants for His Presence
It was perhaps the greatest opportunity ever. God tells Moses that he wants to come to his people and dwell right in the middle of their camp. Not on the outskirts. Not in the ‘burbs. But right in the middle of where they were living. You might wonder, “What preparations would a people need to […]
Chapter 4 / When You Are Walled In, Look for the Way Out
There’s a wall in front of you. Behind you is a past you are running from. Beyond the wall awaits the promise of a new life. But you’re not moving because there is this “wall.” You feel trapped. No way out. This is just the sort of situation in which God does some of his […]
Chapter 3 / Trading in Your Dreams for Another’s
People nearing mid-life often crash into some startling and unexpected observations. For instance, we all dreamed big dreams when we were younger. But as we move at a break-neck pace through our twenties, thirties, and forties, we eventually slam head on into the realization that some of our dreams will never be realized. That observation […]
Chapter 2 / When the Last in Line Gets Chosen for the Team
The casting agent enters the room with her top picks for the show’s leading man and lady. The new series will follow the spellbinding story of a clan that builds a powerful, world-impacting family tree. This is the pilot, and it is crucial to make the right call on the individuals who will fall in […]