Dec 23, 2015 | Christmas, Contentment, Family, Relationships, Stress, Uncategorized
Christmas was magical to me as a young boy. The fresh-cut pine tree loaded with lights and ornaments; piles of snow outside; the Charlie Brown Christmas special; holiday kielbasa and raspberry cream pies; family gatherings; opening gifts; no school for two weeks… for...
Dec 3, 2015 | character, Contentment, Depression, Fear, friendship, Relationships, Rest, Stress, Work
We live in a crazy world. If you watch the news, you’re bombarded with disturbing images and stories. Most news programs don’t lead with stories about the positive things in life. Human nature defaults to focusing on what’s wrong in life. As a result, our world...
Nov 25, 2015 | Beauty, character, Contentment, Family, friendship, Marriage, Relationships, Uncategorized
The Opalewski family has a tradition every year at Thanksgiving breakfast: we go around the table, and each person shares what they’re thankful for this past year. (I know… not too original.) I look forward to this tradition every year, because there are always some...
Nov 20, 2015 | Calling, Career, character, Contentment, Family, Leadership, Marriage, Pastor's Kids, Productivity, Relationships, Rest, Stress, Work
Wouldn’t it be great if all a leader needed to know was 3 things? Wouldn’t their lives be simpler? The truth is, a leader needs to know more than 3 things—one reason more books on leadership exist than we’ll ever be able to read in our lifetime. I’ve lost count of the...
Nov 13, 2015 | Calling, Career, character, Depression, Family, Leadership, Relationships, Rest, Stress
Being a pastor has its great points. Being a pastor has its not-so-great points. Some people have a naïve view of pastors. They’re convinced since he or she is doing the Lord’s work, a pastor’s life is a charmed life… exempt from normal human pressures, and the wear...
Oct 29, 2015 | Anger, character, Contentment, Family, Fear, Forgiveness, friendship, Jealousy, Relationships, Stress, Uncategorized
It’s time to kill the monster. Jealousy… aka the green-eyed monster… threatens us all. It’s an emotion everyone deals with occasionally. Its roots are insecurity, fear, self-doubt, or anxiety. Jealousy often emerges when someone achieves something you’ve wanted...
