The word “Ding” was written in black Sharpie on a silver piece of duct tape. The tape stuck immediately above a doorbell. And the doorbell was installed immediately above the walk-up window to Marsha’s Diner. My kids and I were … Continue reading
I just finished reading John Steinbeck’s book, The Moon Is Down. I wanted to find something to read over vacation. So I was browsing through my library’s electronic resources and saw a different Steinbeck book featured (which I’d already read). It reminded … Continue reading
Our family would have been in Europe right now. Marci and I announced it to our kids on Christmas morning. The three and a half weeks immediately following Elliot’s graduation were to be a time of travel and celebration. We … Continue reading
I just finished reading John Green’s book, The Fault in Our Stars. It’s written for a younger audience, and its moment was probably about seven years ago. But I was having a hard time finding something interesting on Overdrive or Hoopla (digital … Continue reading
I just finished reading Dina Nayeri’s book, The Ungrateful Refugee. It was published around this time last year, and it’s been on my list for even longer than that. The subject matter — refugee resettlement in Europe and North America — is … Continue reading
One of the weirdest things about the last two months is the lack of reasonable, reliable information regarding COVID-19. This is partly because it’s a new virus that’s only recently been introduced to human experience, thus science is still catching … Continue reading
Corrie Ten Boom was living in Haarlem during the time that the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany. Her family’s faith in Jesus Christ prompted them to provide a hiding place for Jews, as the military started to deport them … Continue reading
I just finished reading Heather Morris’s book, The Tattooist of Auschwitz. It was recommended to me (and personally loaned to me) by my Mom. I think she knew that I’ve always appreciated the stakes of a narrative centered around war or genocide. … Continue reading
How does a team start a new church from scratch? What does street-level missions look like? If we wanted to start a new H2O Church at, say, Youngstown State University (45 minutes east of Kent), where exactly would we start? … Continue reading
I just finished a second reading of Sarah A. Lanier’s book, Foreign to Familiar: A Guide to Understanding Hot- and Cold-Climate Cultures. I got this book maybe ten years ago, when our family was living in the Netherlands. I remember appreciating the … Continue reading