Pro Bono Jesus

Jan.01
2

Shut Your Mouth, Grandma!

Posted by in emotion, parenting, relationships

Parenting is hard. Hours after we had celebrated the birth of Jesus in Chicago we decided to take our kids bowling with grandma and grandpa.  The first few frames went as expected, but by frame six our four-year-old son decided that bowling still belonged in the 60’s.  Instead he wanted to eat all of the chips the bowling alley offered for sale. Given that we ate lunch prior to our bowling excursion and our son chose only to nibble, Dana and I were committed to chipless bowling.  Cue meltdown. As…read more

Nov.28
1

What Failing to Run 1/2 Mile Taught Me About Myself

Posted by in emotion, motive, parenting, relationships

If there isn’t some sort of ball involved, I don’t really see the point of running.  Where are you running to?  Where’s the basket?  Where’s the endzone?  Nevertheless, we signed our boys up for a local running series that included a weekly race every Sunday.  Our 3 year-old is much more interested in grinning than running, but given the fact that he’s about as fast as growing grass, it’s probably a good thing.  Our 9 year-old, however, treats every competitive event as its own war of survival.  Watching him compete…read more

Oct.31
4

The Day I Learned to Lead

Posted by in emotion, physical health, relationships, vocation

Just a handful of hours after the birth of our second daughter, my wife entered into a deep internal darkness. Our second daughter had been born healthy, but my wife had not fared so well. She fell rapidly into the depths of postpartum depression. My mind rushed to what I knew. Be a real man. Do not be weak. But it was clear that my wife’s struggles were not a matter of the will – the joyous, peaceful, and energetic wife I knew had vanished. I had been the Senior…read more

May.29
3

5 Keys to a Successful Humble-Brag on Social Media

Posted by in relationships

We’ve all seen them before.  The well-crafted Facebook post or the well thought out Instagram picture showcasing a great achievement, while still maintaining an envious amount of humility. You know, the kind of humility that you can be proud of.  It’s an art, and we Christians are especially adept at it.  We know that as Christians, we are called to live in humility; to not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing; to not practice our righteousness to be seen by others; and so on and…read more