As 2018 winds down, I find myself in my most emotionally raw, volatile state of the year, probably ever. The North Carolina skies opened with a blizzard this week, and how I wanted this snowy downpour to cleanse it all away.
Read More End of Year Emo BlizzardToday I learned that my church died. Not my current church. Not my previous church. Not even a church I’ve attended in four years. But the first church that felt something like home.
Read More Death and Death and the Coming Tide of DeathSix months ago, I decided to be reckless. I was out running by a lake near my home in Asheville as that all-too-common feeling of stuckness squelched my every step. I needed a change — what else is new? — something to plan, somewhere to run. As I literally ran in this moment of desperation, my thoughts latched […]
Read More I Love/Hate CaliforniaA couple housekeeping notes to start. First off, you might have noticed I’m starting to write more regularly with my awesome blogging brotherhood, Your Other Brothers. It’s becoming tedious to continue linking my new posts on that blog back to this one, so if you’d like to continue reading my posts over there, go ahead and subscribe to YOB! […]
Read More 29.California, Growing up on the east coast, I always wanted to visit you. To venture to a foreign exotic land and bask in your palm trees and mountains and a neighboring ocean not named Atlantic. Forget visiting; I could have never imagined one day living within your 2000 zig-zagging miles of gorgeous borders. Upon actually living here, I […]
Read More Goodbye, CaliforniaI have few influences greater than Donald Miller, both inside my “real life” and out. His works have certainly impacted me as a writer; you could’ve played a drinking game with all my Donald Miller references in Struggle Central (drinking milk, of course). Beyond the mere sphere of writing, though, Donald Miller has impacted my very […]
Read More Donald Miller Hates Going to Church and I Do TooA couple weeks ago, my friend sent me a picture. A picture hearkening back toward my past. The more I stare at it, the more I want to cry. A year and a half ago, I was baptized. Baptized on my 25th birthday despite ascribing to the name of Christ for most of the last […]
Read More A Birthday Baptism ImmortalizedLast week, I blogged about my impressions from my recent trek to Nashville for the Storyline conference. Storyline is an organization run by Donald Miller and friends; its sole purpose, to help people of all shapes and sizes and ages find their subplots in God’s story. Moving beyond those first impressions, I learned a thing or […]
Read More My Storyline Conference Lessons: Suffering is GoodOne year ago, I turned 25. A quarter-century. The halfway mark between 20 and…30. One year ago today, I was baptized. It was one of those ethereal moments that fully convinced my belief in a God. Those kinds of moments just don’t happen. Nobody gets baptized on a Tuesday night in a water park surrounded by […]
Read More One Year AgoOnce again, my life is starting over in the same magical place. After a long week on the road, I’m back in southern California. Last night I stared out at the Pacific Ocean and felt certain peace to be back home. “Home” in the temporary sense that yes, this is where I am meant to be […]
Read More Starting Over Again: The Tale of Westward Ho 2My One Word 365 for 2012 is courageous. After five months of this slightly less sparkly new year, I wanted to check in with my spring progress. Not in a puff-myself-up kind of way, but more of a trying-to-stay-accountable sort of way. In short, it’s been a life-changing year. In long… I met with one […]
Read More One Word 365: My Spring Check-InI was baptized last week. It was more “unconventional” in the sense that the event did not occur within the traditional confines of a Sunday morning service of a standard church building. I kinda like that. But though occurring on a non-churchy Tuesday night at a non-churchy water park, my baptism most certainly occurred in […]
Read More A Birthday Baptism by Buccaneer BayI am worthless. I have no purpose, no “point.” I am doomed to fall, doomed to fail, repeatedly and hard, regardless of any earnest effort. Maybe because of my earnest effort. I am alone. I cannot love or be loved. Not the “right” way, whatever that even means. Having a spiritual “family” is an impossible […]
Read More The Day Lies DiedWhat’s been your most memorable birthday? Least memorable? TELL ME A STORY. Phew, crisis averted. JESUS JUKE. Please don’t hate this post; I’m getting baptized tonight. BORING. At least far more memorable than 23 or 2. All things considered, turning 25 is sure to be memorable for decades to come. Well, as much fun as […]
Read More Twenty-Five TurningSeveral years ago I watched my younger siblings do it. I’ve often wondered whether I would ever follow in their footsteps. Been questioned about it plenty of times. But I already have Jesus in my heart. I love Him dearly. He is everything; He’s the only thing. For nearly 25 years God’s will has superseded […]
Read More Why I’ve Never Been Baptized