Sons of the Shepherd

  A Table in the Presence of Grief       There are certain pieces of furniture in your home that could tell a lot of stories if they could talk.  One of those pieces of furniture in our home was our kitchen table.  If you knew my late wife Tiffanie you knew that SHE loved home decor.  It was her hobby.  Her pictures were even used on Target's website and a few other large department stores.  Pretty cool, huh?  She dreamed of a white kitchen table.  She was saved money for over one year to buy it.  Now, let me be honest, I didn't want her to buy a white kitchen table. We still had young kids at home and well, needless to say, three young children and a white table don't mix very well.  But we bought the table and within a week one of the kids already stained the table.  Tiff was devastated.  Then a few months later the paint started chipping.  To say she was disappointed would be an understatement.  I c...

  The Shepherd Who Meets Us in the Valley       Change.  That one simple word can cause a plethora of different responses from people.  Some of us embrace change, we almost look forward to it.  We might even treat it like a great adventure.  Others fear change, we dread it and it can cause such anxiety and unrest in our lives.  Change for those people can be the bain of their existence. Let's be honest, change can be a good thing.  I am personally grateful that we don't drive Model T Fords, we have air conditioning, indoor plumbing, and wifi versus dial up.  Those changes have advanced our world, but grieving people have an aversion to change.  The reason why we have an aversion to it is because grief, by definition it forces change on our life.  I call it forced change because we didn't vote for it.  We were asked if we wanted it. The death of our person demanded that we face a new, scary world that is filled with la...

When the Evenings Get Darker       My oldest son and I have been going on evening walks in the woods near our home.  These walks have become precious to me because not only am I building up my physical health, but I'm also building a healthier relationship with my teenage son.  I'm constantly amazed that he wants to spend time with his dad.  I know this probably won't last forever, but for the time being I'm going to treasure it.  We started our walk a little later last night then normal.  It didn't seem like a very big deal but after about a mile in I noticed that it was noticeably darker.  It wasn't because of cloud cover, it was simply because we are drawing closer to Fall.  We did finish our walk.  We did 2.25 miles, but the last half mile or so required us to be use a flashlight to navigate our path.  The evening getting shorter is a reminder that Autumn is coming.  My pumpkin spice loving friends are starting to buy ...

  Writing Your Chapter Two So You Want to Date a Widow/Widower       Have you ever purchased a product with a warning label that just made you scratch your head?  I don't adhere to the theory of evolution, but after reading certain warning labels I think we might be devolving.  Let me share with you a few humorous warning labels.  Some hair dryers have a warning label to not use it while you are sleeping. I have never thought the two would be a good combination.  An adult Superman costume says that the costume does not enable flight.  A wheelbarrow has a warning that it should not be used on the highway.  This one caused my brain to create a very unique image.  A chainsaw has a warning to not stop it with your hands (some actually mention other parts of your body, but I'll leave that to your imagination).  But probably one of the silliest is a warning on a  container of peanuts.  It says "warning, contains peanuts."...