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The Most Delicious Ways to Prepare Kale
The veggie that has many people’s palates running scared can be transformed into a delicious side with just a few ingredients.
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Mythbusters: You Can Do It All (Realistic Productivity)
Maybe I’m not the only one who perpetually thinks I can write a to-do list in the morning, and get it all done before bed. Have you, like me, been plagued with the reality that it is rarely the case? If so, join me in looking at a more realistic productivity. As an eternal optimist,…
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Todoist: A Task Management App that Helps Boost My Productivity
I live by to to-do lists. Without them, I flounder helplessly and end up using my time ineffectively. With them, I am more likely to stay focused and task-oriented. In recent years, I had started to become discontent with pen and paper lists for a few reasons. One, they got long and overwhelming in a…
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Visiting Australia: A Major Bucket List Item
Recounting a bucket list vacation to Australia. It was beyond wonderful.
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You Can Do More Than You Think You Can
“There is no man living that can not do more than he thinks he can.” – Henry Ford I’ll agree with ol’ Henry on that. When it comes to getting things accomplished, I’ve found that sometimes, through a variety of means, I sell myself short and convince myself of a level of achievement that is…
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The 3 Stages of Emotional Connection to Costco
Going to Costco for the first time as a youngster was startling to my young mind. The experience changed as I got older. Here is what I have identified as the three phases of connection to Costco. Shock and Awe (the teenage years) Shopping in a warehouse? I can get a sweater, a blender, a…
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Why People Hate Christians & Christianity
Published 3/4/18. Updated 3/4/21. Why do people hate Christians? Or why do people hate Christianity? Since my childhood, I’ve seen Judeo-Christian ethics slowly but surely move from basically accepted standards and the cultural norm to rejected, stomped on, and moved to what, subjectively, seems like a shunned fringe of society. This sentiment is reinforced heavily…
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The Theology of Weather: Seeing God in the Elements (Snowy Day Thoughts)
The theology of weather. What does that mean? To me, it means gleaning what we can about God from what we see in the weather. As I write this, snowflakes are gently falling, and have been all day, in my corner of the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I still get giddy like a little kid when…
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The Miracle of Santification
Published 2/17/18. Updated 4/11/23. Fellow Christian, how often do you consider the miracle of sanctification? It truly is a miracle that God chooses to work in us, who have repented of our sins and trusted in Christ as Savior, to conform us more and more to the image of Jesus Christ the longer we live.…
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The Good News Isn’t Good Without the Bad News (A Brief Look at Gospel Implications)
Sometimes, you cannot comprehend how wonderful something is until you are aware of or experience the opposite, to glean an appreciation. “You don’t know what you’ve got until its gone.” “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.” “There are unknown unknowns, things we don’t know that we don’t know.” –…
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Waste Fewer Veggies, Save Money & Make Your Fridge Look Amazing
This is my tale of how I decided to waste fewer veggies in our home. For years, I bemoaned the fact that I couldn’t get to my fresh veggies before they spoiled. This was disappointing to me not only because I was wasting food, but because it was not cheap in the first place. The…
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The Struggle Between Time with God & Working Out
Published 1/25/18. Updated 1/26/21. I’ll admit, I prefer a story with a neat and clear-cut resolution. A little bow on it, with all the details wrapped up. For that reason, I would be a terrible movie critic, because I am too easily pleased with the neatly packaged endings in the majority of films. We’re not…
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Portion Control: A Key to Weight Loss
As time has marched on, a sad truth has sunk into my brain: how much I eat makes a huge difference in weight loss or gain. “Um, duh, Summer,” you might say. More specifically, watching the portions of what I eat often makes or breaks my food intake success. I am carefully avoiding the word…
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My 2018 Running Goal: 500 miles. Action Plan Included. (Anyone want to join me?)
I’ve been on a journey of running for fitness off and on since high school. While I haven’t always been consistent, it is the one form of cardio that I always go back to. Partly because there aren’t many exercises that are more efficient concerning aerobic activity and calories burned by time spent. Also the…
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PrayerMate: An App That Vastly Improved My Prayer Life
My prayer life has been dramatically improved from the use of this app.
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I’m Sorry, You Apologized for WHAT?? A Brief Look at Our Over-Apologizing Culture
Originally published 12/15/17. Updated 1/2/21. I can’t tell you how it started. I can tell you that once I noticed it, it was everywhere and impossible to ignore. The overuse of “I’m sorry.” I was formerly a power-user of the phrase, and I read an article a few years back exploring the folly of its…
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An Open Letter to Critics of #ThoughtsAndPrayers
Right after the tragic church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas in early November, social media was flooded with the usual chorus of people posting “sending thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their families. This is an entirely normal reaction to a tragedy, to acknowledge a sense of helplessness and beseech the Almighty to intervene…
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6 Qualities That Will Make You More Endearing to Others
We’ve all encountered people that rock our world for the better. When we meet such a person, we delight to be in their presence as much as possible. They inspire us to be better people ourselves by their example. While we all may have various ideas of what qualities we admire in people, here are…
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Embracing the Boring Life: A Short Chronicle of My Transition from (Mostly) Adventurer to (More of a) Homebody
Updated 8-20-21 It sometimes pains me to admit that my life is not as exciting as it was in the past. I look back fondly on my college years and my 20s when every weekend was full of adventure and a high percentage of weekdays were too. Being at home in the evening was boring,…
