Happy little accidents

I’ve always loved art, and in my youth, I spent my free time sketching on vacation. While I struggled to draw people, I enjoyed capturing landscapes. I would take a blank page from my sketchbook and transform it into a realistic depiction of a building or natural scenery. For this reason, I have always admired the painter Bob Ross.

The light at the end of the tunnel

A couple of weeks ago, I traveled to Lexington, KY, to pick up my son, Chris, who had just finished his first year at the University of Kentucky. As usual, I took a short detour to make the long drive more enjoyable. This time, I explored the Blue Ridge Tunnel trail near Wayneboro, Virginia, just off I-64.

Happy birthday to the church!

In case you missed it, May 14th was Ascension Day—the day Jesus left His disciples and rose to heaven. (By the way, I missed it too.) For some reason, we don’t celebrate Ascension Day, but Pentecost, which occurs ten days later, gets much more recognition, and rightly so; it is considered the birthday of the church.

When you’re stuck with God

I don’t understand why people tell me I am so noble for staying with my wife despite all her health issues. What is so noble about it? I love her! When I married her, I made a vow to her and to God to be with her “for better and worse, for good times and bad, in sickness and in health, until death do us part,” and I don’t plan to leave her just because she has the misfortune of being sick with an incurable, debilitating disease. Apparently, this must be uncommon in today’s world.

Why I go to First Baptist

Before I lived in the DC area, I worked for the federal government in Louisville, KY. When the federal government, in its infinite wisdom, decided to close the office where I worked in 1994, I had a choice: transfer to either St. Louis or the DC area, or be laid off (RIFed, if you speak federal government). I chose to move to Reston, VA, to work.

Why doesn’t Vicki come to church?