We’re All the Same Here

The first time I used a laundromat was in Milwaukee the summer of 2011. I worked at a missions camp for three months, and every weekend my team and I would venture to the laundromat down the road to take care of our dirty clothes. I’d always had a washer/dryer wherever I’d lived, so this […]

The Opposite of Addiction

Back when I worked in wilderness therapy last year, I learned an important lesson: the opposite of addiction is not sobriety. The opposite of addiction is connection. I had to think about it for a while. Absorb it. Reflect on it. Think back on the times I’ve experienced addition — pornography, promiscuity, a poor self-image […]

Summer Questions: I Don’t Know What’s Best for Me

I knew it had been a while, but I was blown away when I realized my last Struggle Sunday post occurred on… May 27th of last year. Yikes. Please don’t let me go that long without getting messy with y’all again. While my life seems to be peaches and cream at the moment — regularly […]

Milwaukee Paradise

Several months ago I reentered Milwaukee a year removed from the most life-changing summer of my life. Midway through the summer I blogged about that heavy drive into the city; here now is the continuation of that tale, recounting my 24 hours back in sweet Milwaukee. After parking on all too familiar Logan Street I […]

Eastward Ho: Milwaukee Melee

I recently drove across the country to reach my summer camp destination on the east coast. What follows is one of several real-life wandering stories from my incredible “Eastward Ho” adventure. Before I can talk about what I actually did upon my return to Milwaukee, I must first explain the magnitude of my initial arrival. […]

Eastward Ho: 30 Minutes in Chicago

I recently drove across the country to reach my summer camp location on the east coast. What follows is one of several real-life wandering stories from my incredible “Eastward Ho” adventure. I’d thought about just passing by. It was already dark and getting kinda late. I had 500 miles to travel the next day and […]

Struggle Sunday: I’m Not Worthy

I recently spoke in church. Like…big-people church. Not children’s church or Sunday School or the nursery. It’s about as insane a claim as my slam-dunking over Shaq. At the start of the year I’d have given greater odds to becoming LeBron Tom than Pastor Tom. But God’s been challenging me this year. Calling me out […]

Why I’ve Never Been Baptized

Several 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 […]

My Letter to Me: From YouthWorks to Now

Last week I received one of the more unique letters the U.S. postal service will ever deliver to me. Yes, even more random than the birthday cards from my first grade teacher, received 15+ years after I presented my last show-and-tell. Last week I received a letter from none other than me, dated from August […]

Struggle Sunday: To Boldly Go

My “one word” for 2012 is courageous. I picked such a word because of my struggle with boldness. And since courageousness is basically the antithesis of such a struggle, it just seemed like a fun combo deal. Like Happy Meals. When it comes to boldness, my life can effectively be split into two halves. I […]

Dear YouthWorks Milwaukee Students:

Hey guys. It’s me. No, not the bearded, guitar-toting one. Not the crazy one. And no, not the one who made you cry on a nightly basis during Club. The other one. I apologize to my fellow YouthWorks Milwaukee staff for these incriminating labels. But, uh, back to you guys. I miss you. Each and […]

When Faith, Hope, and Love Collide

During training week at the beginning of my YouthWorks summer, everyone in my area group was given a leather cord to act as a prayer bracelet for the entire summer — a reminder to pray for fellow staff in our own city and the 2 others in our area. But while the original intent of […]

Driving to Milwaukee and What We Did There

I may be done recapping my YouthWorks summer, but like that silly rabbit I still have a couple YW tricks up my sleeve. I’ve already posted about the promo videos that a YouthWorks camera crew produced from filming at our Milwaukee site. Well, I shot some videos of my own throughout the summer. After starting […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 9

This is the tenth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my ninth and final week of programming, in addition to my one-day debriefing in Minneapolis. Be sure to check out my final postscript thoughts at the end! A logical place for such thoughts. If you’ve missed […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 8

This is the ninth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my eighth week of programming. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! A logical place for such thoughts. If you’ve missed any of previous recaps, flash back to Week 0. Also, check […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 7

This is the eighth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my seventh week of programming. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! A logical place for such thoughts. If you’ve missed any of previous recaps, flash back to Week 0. Also, check […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 6

This is the seventh of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my sixth week of programming. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! A logical place for such thoughts. If you’ve missed any of previous recaps, flash back to Week 0. Also, check […]

Tight Hugs from Guatemala

One of the first goals I accomplished upon returning to California two months ago was sponsoring a child through Compassion International. I’d been wanting to sponsor for many months, but just never had the drive to make the goal a reality. Then came my incredible summer with YouthWorks (perhaps you hadn’t heard), and well, it […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 5

This is the sixth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my fifth week of programming, which aligned with the special week of July 4th. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! A logical place for such thoughts. If you’ve missed any of […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 4

This is the fifth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my fourth week of programming. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! A logical place for such thoughts. If you’ve missed any of previous recaps, flash back to Week 0. Also, check […]

Struggle Sunday: Fear of Man

I care. I care what people think of me. Care too much. And too much care has spiraled into fear, and that’s what this Struggle Sunday centers upon: fear of man. My particular fear of man majorly covers a facet I’ve long known about myself, but the root issue stems from something much more significant […]

Ecclesiastes is Meaningless

Ah, Ecclesiastes. There you are. Like many Old Testament books, I tend to forget you exist (Nahum? Who you be?). But here I am, flipping through your pessimism-drenched pages once again. Like Philippians, I always devour you during times like these. But unlike turning to Philippians for affirmation of the good, I basically turn to you […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 3

This is the fourth of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my third week of programming. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! Postscript, end — seemed like a logical place for such thoughts. *** I cannot believe I’m three weeks into a […]

Videoing YouthWorks

Lo, the long-awaited moment has finally arrived. No, not the first day of fall. And no, not the second day of fall either. The moment YouthWorks finally released their promotional videos! For those that read my YouthWorks recaps as they were being posted live this summer, you’ll remember that a camera crew came to film […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 2

This is the third of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my second week of programming. Be sure to check out my postscript thoughts at the end! Postscript, end — seemed like a logical place for such thoughts. *** I’m now two weeks into summer programming and […]

Tears from Ezra: “It’s Just Not the Same”

I’ve been on a bit of soul-searching journey since relocating from Georgia to southern California over a year ago. Within that soul-searching journey resides countless sub-journeys, including a church-searching one. I’ve not felt truly at home in a church since 1999. So it’s been a while. You would think after twelve years I’d just give […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 1

This is my second of ten blogging installments from my life-changing summer in Milwaukee. In this recap I review my first week of programming after having two intense weeks of training and site preparation. Be sure to check my postscript thoughts on my first official YouthWorks week. *** I’ve got a week of camp counseling […]

My YouthWorks Summer: Week 0

Over the coming weeks I’ll be reviving posts from my YouthWorks summer adventure in Milwaukee. For those that missed these posts, I hope they’ll provide some deeper insight into both my past and present. And for those that have read these recaps before, I’ll be including more pictures this time around and add some postscripts […]

State of the TMZ: Life After Milwaukee

Now that I’m unfettered from blogging about the six huge chunks of Me, I figured I’d check in with a little TMZ life update. Before you run away for fear of boredom, let me just say that there’s LOST to be found in this post. Oh yes. This past summer I worked in Milwaukee for […]