Stage Directions

Okay. Let’s give a little context here.
So far, I’ve used this space to document the joys and lessons that have come out of a year at Pine Cove, both as a valued employee of their summer camping staff and as a sometimes-really-confused student in the Forge discipleship program. And those lessons are captured in [...]

Sunday in Black and White #3

I decided to pick my Sharpies back up:
 

 
This is with the other 2 Sunday in Black and White strips on the “Comics” page.
We’re building some material here. SLOWLY.

Contributions to Society

Here’s the problem with free wi-fi: it’s tempting to abuse the privilege.
I was in Panera Bread a couple weeks ago for a meeting. Not like, an official businessy one. More like a couple people meeting to plan something on their own time. Regardless, whatever it was, I was early for it.
I partially blame camp. If [...]

Pour It Out, One Last Time

We are done on Saturday!
Out of the gates. Out of Columbus. Back to normal life. Amen and amen and amen.
This will be good. Last year, I was getting ready to finish my summer while looking toward 8 months in Tyler. Now, I’m trying to hold the prism up to the light to see what Waco [...]

Out Is Not What It’s About

I write you now from a Starbucks in rainy Clinton, Mississippi. I was allowed today to attend the funeral of a close friend’s mother along with the majority of my Forge classmates from this past year. Now, we are waiting out a pretty persistent rainstorm that’s razzing all the drivers on I-20.
And confession: with this, [...]

May Shrink In Wash

Well, the staff switched out this week. And the transition was fairly smooth. The only drawback is that between folks getting ready for Rush and being RA’s and taking classes and such, the second half of the summer just means less staff. We’ve joked a lot about how our director’s 3 year-old son quotes John [...]

Ebeneezers are the worst

You know what an Ebeneezer is, right?
That line in “Come Thou Fount” used to confuse me. What the heck was that? We were making a Christmas Carol reference here? Scrooge in a hymn?
No. It’s a rock of rememberance, literally. An object that helps you remember an important moment in your life, your experience with God.
I [...]

The Most Wonderful Time of the Half-Year

Did you enjoy half-Christmas this Thursday? I sure did.
I mean, you’ve been outside recently, right? Feel the sweat spewing from your brow as soon as you hit your porch? Me too. We’ve been writing some new pages for the camp playbooks with this drastic heat-wave Texas is feeling. Some involve changing up the daily schedule [...]

Out, and What It’s About

So I was told to get out of the office the other day. At first, I wasn’t sure how to take that.
Just so you know (and this will tie together in a minute), sunny Columbus, TX is currently at 85 degrees Farenheit, with humidity making it feel like a balmy 91. That’s at 11 am, as I [...]

From One Hot Zone To Another

Well, I survived eight months in Tyler. And praise the Lord: it was exactly what I never knew I needed. I got challenged a lot. My character was molded. And now I think I’m on the back end of a 6-plus year relationship with a ministry that I love.
But now that the Forge is over, I’ve [...]