Sons of the Shepherd

The Empty Chair at the Table       How many of you remember the good old days of using Mapquest directions or actual printed maps to navigate the country?  I vividly remember being around 23 years old and traveling to South Carolina to visit Tiffanie for the first time.  At the time it was the longest drive I had ever made.  There wasn't a GPS readily available so I printed off pages, yes pages of Mapquest directions.  I had them laying on my lap as I navigated the eight hours of roads.  I would look at my odometer and do the math on when I needed to get off an exit ramp.  Today I simply put the address in my and off I go on the greatest of adventures.  Maps are great at helping us navigate foreign places where there are no directions.  Grieving people also struggle during the holiday season because now they are trying to find their way through the holidays while missing their loved one.     There is something picturesque ...

When Gratitude Feels Impossible       The month of November is the opening season for people to share the things that they are grateful for.  You can scroll on social media and you will be flooded with people giving something that they are grateful for each day.  But let me be transparent with you for a moment.  The month of November is incredibly brutal for me.  November will probably always have a little bit a darker hue to it.  The reason why is because in November 2024 my late wife Tiffanie's health crashed, all of her treatments failed, and we had to slowly watch her fade away until she would meet Jesus.  The month of November was filled with doctors appointments, hospital visits, bad test scans, heavy conversations, telling our kids that she was going to die soon, and then telling them that she did pass away.  I have a million things in this world to be grateful for.  God has done so much healing.  He provided me with a n...