Sons of the Shepherd

  Hope Beyond the Grave 1st Corinthians 15:20, 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18,  John 11:25-26, Revelation 21:4       Have any of you ever had trouble with your vision? I remember starting sixth grade and I noticed that I was  unable to see the chalkboard in the Mr. Dunkle's science class.  Yes, a chalkboard.  That might show my age a little bit.  I sat in the front row and it still didn't help.  I would write what I thought the teacher wrote down, only to write the wrong thing.  Tests were hard because I was giving the answer that I studied, but I copied the wrong thing.  And then one day I got the dreaded letter that I had to give to my parents.  It simply said "I think Matt would benefit from getting glasses."  That sounded so awful as a 12 year old.  Back in my day only the 'nerdy' kids had glasses.  They weren't considered fashionable.  They were a tool, and that was about it.  We went to the eye d...

When the Fire Is Out       I grew up in rural Pennsylvania.  Farms were abundant.  Cows way outnumbered people.  Growing things was a part of our culture, it was a core identity of my people.  FFA was more popular then football and the boys would drive their tractors to school a few days a year.  I vividly remember when one of our local farms caught fire.  It was the middle of summer and a bale of hay ignited.  The entire barn was loss.  Tragically so were a few of the animals that were in the barn.  I could see the fire from outside my front door.  The orange flames leapt into the air.  Smoke filled the air.  Every local fire department ascended onto our small town to try to save the farm.  People lined up to watch the fire.  Some of them stayed in their cars, others got out.  Back then the only way to take pictures was with your polaroid camera or it you had a disposable camera.  My grandmot...

  Writing Your Chapter Two Are You Ready?  The Questions No One Asks Out Loud       "Is everyone ready?"  Those are the last words out of my mouth before we go on a family road trip, and more then likely the answer is no despite multiple warnings.  As a family of seven there are a lot of things to get ready before finally putting the car in reverse to go down the drive way, and sometimes it means driving down the street only to turn around to find out that we were not ready.  Five kids require a lot of readiness.  Things like making sure everyone has their shoes on, that everyone indeed did use the bathroom, because if this box isn't checked, we will be visiting the gas station right down the street.  Leslie will be packing snacks, water bottles need to be filled, GPS needs to be programmed. It's amazing how the older children can say "I'm ready" while they are still getting ready.  I give this illustration to let you know that lif...

When Cancelation is Good News       Flying is a necessary bane of my existence, but is something that has become a normal feature to my life.  The Lord in His humor had me fall in love with a Canadian woman who served the Lord in Uganda.  I didn't like flying to Florida, and if you haven't checked the map recently, Uganda is quite a bit further away.....and there is a huge ocean between the two continents.  I hated flying.  The thought of it terrified me, nearly gave me panic attacks.  But I loved Leslie.  I felt a huge part of my future had her in it.  The only way to make it work was to fly....and fly often.  Since then I've flown ten times to multiple countries.  I believe I have logged over 80,000 miles, the distance of flying around the world three times.  Flying still makes me nervous, but I've become more comfortable with the thought of it.  In my mind at least I have a woman who loves me dearly at the end of t...

Writing Your Chapter Two  When Your Heart Starts Waking Up Again       Grief can feel like a long, cold, dark, lonely winter.  Life feels like it's buried under the ground by inches of frost and ice.  There are moments during the earliest stages of grief where you feel like nothing will ever grow again.  Imagine the weather changing and having to endure multiple years of unending winter.  You start to forget what spring feels like, what the warmth on your face feels like, you forget the beauty of a flower bursting forth from the soil.  That is exactly how grief felt for me.  When Tiffanie passed away a part of me died and was buried with her.  I knew there would come a day when happiness and joy would return....but for the time being it felt so foreign.  I didn't even want to seek it out.  But one of the strangest parts of grief is realizing that, one day, your heart begins to wake up again.  When new love arrives at ...

  Getting Honest with God  and Your Grief   Psalm 62:8, Psalm 34:18, Lamentations 3:17-24, Psalm 13       I grew up on the glorious day of hot blacktop on a school playground.  Playgrounds are sort of like the Hunger Games at times.  There seems be different districts fighting for their own form of dominance on the concrete jungle.  Elementary playgrounds aren't just filled with swings, dodgeball, tetter totters, and slides.  It's also filled with insults that are flung back and forth.  One insult that was tossed out when your honesty was questioned was "Liar, liar, pants on fire."  Mic drop sound effect inserted here.  If it was an especially deep cut they would continue with hanging on a telephone wire.  There is nothing that hurts more then hearing insults, especially when your honesty is being questioned.  Sometimes maybe we did lie, other times were didn't.  But being condemned of lying is hurtful. ...

  The Brain and Grief Mourning a Former Self Part Seven       "You're wanted in four states."  Those are not the words that you want to hear when you are standing in line at the DMV.  Let me give you a little backfill, and no, I promise you that I'm not a felon or on the lamb.  Tiff and I moved to West Virginia in 2011 and shortly after went to the DMV to change our license over.  Tiffanie's was super easy.  She walked in and within thirty minutes she had her license in hand.  Mine was a totally different story.  I went to the DMV the following day and needless to say I should have packed a lunch.  The line was LONG and people were super cranky.  I waited over three hours before they were able to take my picture.  Things seemed to be going ok except for the long wait.  But I noticed the ladies at the counter staring at the their computer and then staring at me.  They were confused.  They called me to th...

  The Brain and Grief When Stress Floods Part Six       Years ago I was part of a mission's team that ventured into the deep hollers of Kentucky.  A part of my life will always love the coal fields of Appalachia.  The rolling hills, the sounds of a coal car, the slow paced life, and the sweetest people will always have a part of my heart.  This particular trip focused on helping people after one of the worst floods in state history.  The Kentucky River rose from three feet to nearly thirty eight feet.  It laid waste to several communities.  The devastation left our team speechless.  Homes were destroyed, entire trailer parks disappeared, and the terrible smell of the mud and the silt was rank in the summer air.  Our team broke up into groups, my team was assigned to evaluate the damage on a home and try to fix it.  The house was painted white, but clearly hadn't seen a new coat of paint in quite some time.  It was nes...