During our summer vacation this year, my husband and I surprised our oldest daughter with a trip to New York City for her 16th birthday celebration. We had a planned trip with our church’s choir to Washington, D.C., where the group was invited to sing at the 2018 Christians United for Israel (CUFI)’s Summit, and therefore we decided to extend the trip to New York and later to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania. While in Gettysburg, we visited the Civil War battlefield and museum, where I learned Continue Reading
The Farmer’s Principle – Reaping What We Sow {The Atlanta Journal Constitution}
“You have a magical green thumb, daddy!” “No, I don’t. I just take care of my plants, that’s all. I was but a little boy when my dad taught me a valuable lesson. We didn’t have much money, so father planted vegetables in our backyard. One day, I was helping him sow some seeds. I had just placed some in the ground, put dirt back in the hole and was patting it with my small hands, when he said something I’ll never forget: ‘You are responsible for everything you sow, son. If you don’t water Continue Reading
When Silence Is the Most Powerful Answer {The Atlanta Journal Constitution}
I scrolled down her phone to read the string of ugly messages received. From insults to Bible verses, the communication chain made me angrier by the second. Self-righteousness, hypocrisy, anger, misinterpretation — each bubble in the chat window showed someone very different from the person I thought I knew. On the other side of the table, my friend looked at me, puzzled, trying to make sense of it all. “Did I say something wrong?” she asked. “Nope. You answered a question and asked for Continue Reading
The Waiting Game – NOT Your Turn {The Atlanta Journal Constitution}
Three hundred voices joined together to sing the same measure one more time. The director had to stop practice several times, because one or two individuals repeatedly missed a rest. Invariably, every time a group this large stops singing at any given part of a song, a single voice stands out like a sore thumb. And so, we practiced the same musical phrase, again and again, until the entire group recognized the rest in the measure – a crucial pause to translate the dramatic nuances of the Continue Reading
This Mother’s Day, Give Mom Forgiveness, Compassion and Grace {The Atlanta Journal Constitution}
It’s Mother’s Day weekend, and when I started thinking about the theme for my column, I had a recurring thought. For the past several years, I have been in constant prayer about some mothers I know and their children, whose relationships are filled with unforgiveness, separation or constant conflict. In each of these situations, I can easily understand the motives behind the estrangement: overbearing and controlling mothers, children who neglect or disrespect their mothers, mothers who Continue Reading
Could Your Biggest Weakness Become Your Greatest Strength? {The Atlanta Journal Constitution}
To celebrate our youngest daughter’s birthday this past week, the family joined her at the movie theater to watch the recently released movie, “A Wrinkle in Time.” From visionary director Ava DuVernay, Disney based this epic production on Madeleine L’Engle’s acclaimed classic. The story takes the audience across a dimension of time and space, in a feast of flawless visual effects that left me dazzled, from beginning to end. But behind the dance of colors and masterful display of technology, Continue Reading
