Early this morning, I came across a Facebook post about a terrible automobile accident. A young father was on his way to work when he was involved in a wreck. According to the post, he had been airlifted to a hospital, was on life support, and had extensive brain damage. The nineteen-year-old driver of the… Continue reading When Suffering Changes the Question
Tag: The Pencil-Driven Life
What Does “Optional” Actually Settle?
A few days ago, I came across a Facebook announcement from a Baptist church near where I live. The church was announcing the return of something called Bible 101 at a local public middle school. The post emphasized that the class was optional. That word caught my attention. Optional. It is a reassuring word. Nobody… Continue reading What Does “Optional” Actually Settle?
When Another Word Doesn’t Help
I’ve spent much of this week working on I Dare You, Teacher, a book I first wrote years ago and have now substantially revised. Some of the work has involved large questions. What is this book really trying to say? Where does it sound too much like the courtroom lawyer I once was? Am I… Continue reading When Another Word Doesn’t Help
What Revision Asks Us to Let Go
I’ve spent a good bit of time lately going back through writing I did months ago, particularly early work on the Billy and Molly series and I Dare You, Teacher. It’s an interesting experience, reading something you remember writing but no longer seeing it quite the way you did when you wrote it. Some of… Continue reading What Revision Asks Us to Let Go
When a Role Outlives the Reason for It
Some roles begin because they are needed. A family is struggling, and one child becomes the responsible one. A parent is overwhelmed, and someone learns not to add another problem. Conflict fills the house, and one person becomes the peacemaker. Money is uncertain, and someone becomes the provider. A community rewards certainty, and someone becomes… Continue reading When a Role Outlives the Reason for It
The Voice That Sounds Like You
Some thoughts arrive in a voice so familiar that we never think to question who is speaking. You should be doing more. Don’t disappoint them. Keep the peace. Be useful. A good person wouldn’t feel this way. The voice sounds like us because it has lived inside us for a long time. It may have… Continue reading The Voice That Sounds Like You
What a Pencil Can Do That a Phone Cannot
Most people do not think much about a pencil. It is too ordinary, too simple, too old, too slow. It does not light up. It does not connect to anything. It does not save your passwords, count your steps, send your messages, store your photographs, show you the weather, play your music, or tell you… Continue reading What a Pencil Can Do That a Phone Cannot
When Certainty Becomes Too Heavy
Certainty can feel like shelter. For a long time, it may give a person a place to stand. It can make the world feel ordered, explainable, and held together. It can tell us who we are, what matters, what is right, what is wrong, where we belong, and what story our life is supposed to… Continue reading When Certainty Becomes Too Heavy
The Cabin Where a Pencil-Driven Life Can Begin
There are times when a person does not need another vacation. A vacation can be good. A few days away can help. A change of scenery can give the mind a little breathing room. But sometimes the need is quieter than that. Sometimes a person does not need more entertainment, more scheduling, more scenery, more… Continue reading The Cabin Where a Pencil-Driven Life Can Begin
The Permission You Were Waiting For
Some lives are shaped by waiting. Not obvious waiting, maybe. Not sitting still. Not doing nothing. From the outside, the life may look responsible, busy, productive, even successful. But underneath the motion, something may still be waiting. Waiting to be told it is all right. Waiting for approval. Waiting for certainty. Waiting for a sign.… Continue reading The Permission You Were Waiting For
The Pencil-Driven Life 