I love genealogy, and when I started digging into my family tree, I was expecting the usual things: farmers, coal miners, preachers, maybe a horse thief or two. What I did not expect was to discover that my ancestry is basically held together by Butts, Dicks, and Belchers. That’s not a metaphor. That’s literal. I […]
I Come From Butts, Dicks, Belchers… and Almost Fried Chicken Read More »
My great-grandfather, William Washington Elmore, was a handsome man, except for his left eye, which had been blinded when he was young. (See the photo attached. He is the young man in the front row.) In 1908, at age twenty-six, he married my great-grandmother, Diana Vincent. She was only sixteen. They were country folk, living
William Elmore and Brownie Read More »
I have been thinking all week about the confession of Philip Yancey. For decades, Yancey has been one of the clearest voices in evangelical Christianity, a writer who made grace feel believable again. His books didn’t just defend Christianity; they humanized it. He gave language to the weary believer, the bruised skeptic, the person who
When Christian Heroes Fall: Hypocrisy, Grace, and the Strange Work of Truth Read More »
Every November, I’m reminded of how strange it is that gratitude and resentment can live so close to each other. We gather to eat, laugh, and remember where we come from, and in the background, someone is already bracing for political landmines. I hear people say they’re skipping Thanksgiving this year because a family member
A Thanksgiving Worth Keeping Read More »
When a child starts to struggle at school, at home, or in relationships, most parents do what good parents do: they seek help. They call the school counselor, ask friends for referrals, or look for someone online who “specializes in kids like mine.” The problem is, in today’s world, that often means walking into a
Pt. 3 – Seeing Beyond the Label: What Parents Should Look for in a Therapist Read More »
Over the years, I’ve noticed that when I speak about the diagnosis and overdiagnosis of children, or the growing tendency to label every challenge as a mental health disorder, some people assume I’m speaking from a place of privilege or outdated thinking. I understand why. I don’t fit the profile of what many would call
Pt 1 – When Labels Become Identities: What decades of experience have taught me. Read More »
There’s a saying that goes, “The best sermons are lived, not preached.” It means that actions speak louder than words, that integrity is found not in what we say, but in how we live. In my family, there’s no better example of this than my grandfather, Cortez Wesley. He never wrote a book or led
When I was twelve or thirteen, my parents came home from what felt like a spiritual revival for families. They’d just returned from one of Bill Gothard’s weeklong Basic Youth Conflicts seminars; those massive evangelical events that could fill entire stadiums in the 1970s and early 80s. They brought back binders, books, games, and a
We’ve become a culture of shortcuts. Quick dopamine hits instead of slow growth. Virtual affection instead of human touch. Excuses instead of effort. And while some substitutes come from heartbreak or loss and deserve compassion, others are chosen out of fear, laziness, or comfort. Let me start with empathy. Not everyone has access to what
Stop Accepting Substitutes Read More »
The Edge of the Bed Most nights, I sleep on the edge of our large king-sized bed. Not because Dawn pushes me there, she’s too kind for that, but because of Pierre, our small, white Bichon Frise, who seems to believe that love requires no personal space. Pierre doesn’t just want to be near us;
Pierre’s Lesson: The Heartbeat of Connection Read More »