YONDER BREAKS

You know when you get back from vacation and there are those precious few hours between arriving and really settling back into daily life when the vacation-high still lingers? You haven't quite gotten back into the swing of things, but you're still at home with laundry waiting in your suitcase and grocery shopping needed to fill the empty fridge, with a day at the office looming tomorrow -- all of the normal routine chores that every day life presents us with, creeping their little shadowing fingers over the sunshine we just enveloped ourselves in for the past week or so. Well, I'm there right now, and as I fight the urge to ease into the choppy waters of the everyday, I find myself fighting for slightly nobler reasons than simply the lament of rest and relaxation. I just got back from a vacation that was filled to the brim with family time, extended and immediate. It was great being with people we don't get to see that often, and particularly sharing our daughte...

I have a really wonderful wife who grounds me time and time again, whenever I fall down some rabbit hole of self-doubt or self-pity. I've been in a bout of reconsidering my life lately; what I'm doing, whether it's all worth it pursuing a creative career. It's been sparked by a topic I covered  here , and, through a whittling down conversation with my wife, has led to a realization that I have a "point of arrival" in mind and am feeling frustrated that I'm not there yet. You know when you say someone's "made it?" That's my arrival, my destination. For me, it's doing a job I enjoy and getting paid handsomely enough for it to afford a comfortable life by the beach where I can work from home alongside my family (including my wife, who doesn't have to work because I make enough). Lofty goal, right? Well, what is that job? Five years ago it was making movies. At the moment it's writing books and maybe even songs. I know, I k...

to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God... Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow into him who is the Head, that is Christ. Ephesians 4:12-13a & 15 The unity of God's church is beyond important, so much so that it was  one of the last things Jesus prayed for  before he died. Here in Ephesians, we get a glimpse of two very practical ways to work towards this: Serve Speak the truth in love Jesus exemplified both of these in His day-to-day service of the disciples (i.e. -  washing their feet ), and His often hard, but true, words to His disciples (i.e. - telling Peter,  "Get behind me Satan!" ). In examining His life, we have both the key and the goal to fulfilling God's purpose in this matter:  knowing Jesus. ...so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the...

I hate walking away from a skateboarding trick. That's why my poor friends in high school used to watch me try tricks sometimes 100+ attempts before landing it, and usually I'd make them videotape most of them. (If any of you are reading, sorry...) I'm not as bad about that as I used to be, but I still have a lot of trouble walking away, and yesterday was one such instance. I had arrived at a bank spot at a nearby school, and was just messing around to see if I could get anything for a video I'm working on ( Skater Dad: the movie ). In my head I saw an impossible body-varial/ 360 shuv-it-kind-of-thing, and so I tried it. And landed it!! First try! Awesome, now it's time to break out the camera, shoot it and move on. About fifty tries later, I still hadn't landed the trick and was yelling things like, "This is so dumb!" and "Skateboarding is stupid!" I immediately felt bad about that last one and apologized to my board; but the fact o...

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (1 Peter 3:8) What does it mean to love like brothers? Brothers are loyal, protect each other, have fun. But brothers fight. Alot. Brothers actually probably fight more than friends or acquaintances or maybe even lovers. But the thing that sets them apart when they do fight, is that they will protect each other no matter what disagreement has risen between them, and ideally, they will ultimately forgive. If we are to love like brothers, as Christians, we must expect to fight with other Christians. We will disagree on theology and how church should be done. We may even have qualms with each other personally. But we must remember that, no matter what, we are brothers, bound by Christ and  grafted into  the family of God. Though we disagree, we must remain loyal to and protect each other. We must humbly admit when we are wrong, be sympathetic and comp...