Kent State University’s Move-In Weekend is always a pretty big deal for our household. Our involvement with H2O Church makes this time of year especially strategic. But it’s a lot of fun, too. It’s somehow heart-warming to see the traffic … Continue reading
In my last post, I wrote about humanity’s uncanny ability to continue through cataclysm. For thousands and thousands of years, we’ve endured plagues, earthquakes, fires, floods, wars, and worries. And still, somehow, we keep on keeping on because it’s what … Continue reading
My Dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2015. I’m really thankful that we’ve had a few years to prepare for the worst of it. For the first couple of years, it was mostly just a flat affect, a softening … Continue reading
We’re coming out of COVID. It’s a process, for sure. Nothing easy or instantaneous about it. But we’re relearning how to lean into community dynamics again. We’re relearning how to have fun. And last night’s establishment of the H2O Kent … Continue reading
Negen jaar geleden, woonde we nog in Amsterdam. Onze huis stond wel leeg met een boordje in het raam: “Te Koop.” Maar onze vrienden… onze kerk… onze gezinsgeschiedenis… Die waren allemaal nog steeds daar, in Nederland. Tot de ochtend van … Continue reading
One might say we stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire. A lively week in the Great Smoky Mountains with our church family concluded with a 5AM departure on Friday. We headed back north, in order to … Continue reading
I felt like the “weird new kid” when our family moved to Kent in 2012. I wasn’t a part of the church-planting team who moved from Bowling Green in 2008. But I wasn’t the traditional 18- or 19-year-old freshman on … Continue reading
I’ve been thinking, praying, and processing some pandemic recovery stuff lately. And I feel like I had an epiphany this morning while walking in the woods. I started by praying for a nurse who’s recently been hospitalized for COVID-19. She … Continue reading
We finished the year by telling stories. We said the stories could feature heroes. But the heroes must be others (not ourselves). We said the stories could feature fools. But the fools must be ourselves (not others). And with those … Continue reading
Could it be that we’re really getting to the end of winter and the end of COVID? Today it kind of feels like it. Olivia and Cor went back to school today. They had an extra-long Spring Break, extended on … Continue reading