Yesterday I started a new notebook.  The kind I carry with me everywhere and jot down notes throughout the day.  The kind that I use for brainstorming, problem solving, and reminding me to pick up bread at the store.  It’s a regular part of my creative process allowing me to write down any ideas that strike me, and helps me plan and collect potential blog posts.  My favorite part of a new notebook is that the whole experience is wrapped up in one word. Continue Reading…

The conjunction “but” is a powerful word.  “You’re a great worker, but…”  “I love you, but…”  “I’ve always been faithful to you, but…”  You can probably imagine how each of these phrases could end.  You may have even had to hear one of them before.  And what I think is strange is that no matter what gets said before it, all that we remember is what comes after the but.  Layoff, rejection, infidelity are the things we remember.  Continue Reading…

I was raised in a fairly conservative non-denominational family.  My parents loved God, did an excellent job of teaching me about God, and made sure I gained a passion for helping others.  That said. The churches I grew up in never really talked about the Holy Spirit much.  We worshiped the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and that other guy.  In college during a chapel service about the Holy Spirit I heard some awesome parallels between the Holy Spirit and mothers.  Don’t call me a heretic just yet, I’m not saying the Holy Spirit is a woman (or a man for that matter), I’m saying the Holy Spirit sometimes acts like a mother. Continue Reading…