AUGUST 15, 2026

 “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” 

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

PSALM 103-104

13As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

14for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

15The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

16the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

17But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children—

18with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts. (103:13-18)

ROMANS 14

 7For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. 8If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

JOURNAL 

Yesterday I talked with my 7th graders about Walt Whitman and these words:

“What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here, that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

There is something incredible about putting those words in front of a room full of 12 and 13 year olds. Their lives are just beginning to unfold, and yet they are already contributing their verse. So am I. So is every person I encounter today. The powerful play Whitman describes is not some story happening somewhere else. It is this life, right now. And when I really think about it, the present life is more amazing and intriguing than any play, movie, or novel ever written because it is real, it is unfolding, and somehow God has allowed each of us to participate in it.

Maybe that is part of what it means to be “fearfully and wonderfully made.” I am not simply another person passing through time. Neither are those kids sitting in my classroom. Neither is the person I pass in the hallway, the stranger at the store, or the people I love most. Every human being carries an identity and a story that has never existed before and will never exist again. The world around us is equally astonishing. Creation is alive with beauty, tragedy, mystery, joy, grief, love, failure, redemption, and possibility. Tolkien captured it so beautifully when he wrote that although the world contains peril and dark places, there is still so much that is fair, and somehow love mingled with grief can grow even greater.

Psalm 103 adds another layer to Whitman's words. We are dust. Our lives are like grass and flowers of the field. The wind passes over them and they are gone. There is humility in that truth, but strangely there is also freedom. My verse does not have to make me famous or distinguish me from everyone else. It simply needs to be mine, faithfully lived in the part of the story God has given me. And while my life is temporary, God's love is everlasting. My identity is therefore not ultimately rooted in how impressive my verse becomes. It is rooted in the One to whom I belong. “Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

Through many struggles I have slowly come to understand that the closer I draw to God, the more clearly I understand myself, flaws and gifts together. I don't disappear into God. Somehow I become more fully the person He created me to be. Surrender is not the destruction of identity. It is the discovery of it. My soul becomes stitched more permanently to His love, and from that place I can enter the powerful play without desperately trying to control the ending or earn the applause.

Maybe this is the perspective God wants me to embrace each morning: I am here. Life exists. Identity exists. God is here. And today I get to contribute a verse. I don't know everything that will happen in today's scene. There will be darkness and beauty, grief and joy, success and disappointment. But I have an anchor. Christ is the cornerstone, the sure foundation beneath all of it. Because of that, I can stop trying to consume life in search of identity and instead begin contributing life from an identity already given to me.

What an incredible way to see today. The powerful play goes on. By the grace of God, I am in it. And I get to contribute my verse.

16So this is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,

a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation;

the one who relies on it

will never be stricken with panic.

- ISAIAH 28:16

AUGUST 14, 2026

 “And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” 

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

PSALM 99-102

 1Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

3Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his^a ;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. (100:1-3)

ROMANS 13

8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”^aand whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^b 10Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

JOURNAL 

C.S. Lewis wrote, “And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history: money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery, the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” His words remind me that every time I place my hope in anything apart from God, I am stepping into the same failed pursuit humanity has been chasing since the beginning.

Psalm 100 tells us to shout for joy to the Lord, to worship Him with gladness, to come before Him with joyful songs, and to remember that He is God. He made us and we are His. We are His people, the sheep of His pasture. That truth should be enough to anchor my heart no matter what is happening around me.

It is sometimes hard to wrap my mind around all the goodness in my life. I have been blessed with family and friends, yet there are moments when I forget. Life’s struggles, losses, and hardships can seem louder than the blessings, and too often they win the day. But when I stop and thank God for all the goodness, for the opportunities to serve Him, and for the privilege to love and serve others, I realize I have been given an incredible gift. It is the greatest gift.

Romans 13 reminds me that love is the fulfillment of the law. Let no debt remain outstanding except the continuing debt to love one another. Love does no harm to a neighbor. Galatians 5 echoes the same truth, calling us to use our freedom to serve one another humbly in love.

13You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^a ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^b

- GALATIANS 5:13-14

AUGUST 13, 2026

  “The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” 

― C.S. Lewis

PSALM 96-98

 10Let those who love the Lord hate evil,

for he guards the lives of his faithful ones

and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

11Light shines^a on the righteous

and joy on the upright in heart.

12Rejoice in the Lord, you who are righteous,

and praise his holy name. (97:10-12)

ROMANS 12

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

JOURNAL 

Living sacrifice...this is really putting it on the line. This line lays it out completely. That this is the true way to worship God, not by lip service or just showing up at church or tithing 10%. But rather to dedicate my entire being...mind, body and spirit in obedience and service to God.  Paul further clarifies that this means to not conform to the ways of the world. By doing this he says we will then know what God's will truly is for our lives. So in essence he is saying that our focus shifts from the world to God. We no longer look to the world as our guide, or our measurement but rather God's word and the life of Christ. 

Later in the chapter he goes on to state that this then leads the believer to love

 9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

This is a chapter I could read every day of my life...it really lays out what being a believer is all about. Paul goes on to also state that each of us have gifts and if we are to live as living sacrifices then we are to use those gifts.  

23Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?
- LUKE 9:23-25

AUGUST 12, 2026

  “Blessed is he who has learned to admire but not envy, to follow but not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate.” 

― William Arthur Ward

PSALM 93-95

3For the Lord is the great God,

the great King above all gods.

4In his hand are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks belong to him.

5The sea is his, for he made it,

and his hands formed the dry land.(95:3-5 )

ROMANS 11:22-36

33Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom andⁱ knowledge of God!

How unsearchable his judgments,

and his paths beyond tracing out!

34“Who has known the mind of the Lord?

Or who has been his counselor?”^j

35“Who has ever given to God,

that God should repay them?”^k

36For from him and through him and for him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen.

JOURNAL 

Coaching is such an honor. To see kids learn, develop and then implement what they have learned is so rewarding. Equally as important is watching a kid fail miserably and then come back and correct a mistake.  It reminds me that God sees me the same way. When I trust him and work to get better and do things that are hard...I know and feel that it warms his heart.

This morning I am a bit overwhelmed as I contemplate that the creator of all things, all people, the mountains, the valleys, the rivers, the oceans, all the smallest details of our amazing world...the laugh and tears of a child, the miracle of a created being...he is the author and creator of all and yet through it he whispers and pronounces his love for all of his creation, even for me. It is in these moments that I both realize how small and insignificant I am, but at the same time how grateful I am to be a part of it all. I realize that he is all things...Father, Coach, Friend. He finds joy in his creation living, breathing and doing what he designed it to do...I experience that same joy when I cling to his instruction, his direction and know that he smiles on me, no matter how often I fumble, blow it or lose my way. He is always waiting, always hoping, always calling me back to him. 

What an honor to serve him and obey him as I am called to live this life to the fullest.

9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.^a They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

 JOHN 10:9-10

AUGUST 11, 2026

 "To proceed very far through the desert, you must be willing to meet existential suffering and work it through. In order to do this, the attitude toward pain has to change. This happens when we accept the fact that everything that happens to us has been designed for our spiritual growth.” 

― M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

PSALM 90-92

14“Because he^b loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15He will call on me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.(91:14-15)

ROMANS 11:1-21

1I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”^a ? 4And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”^b 5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

JOURNAL 

Yesterday I was angry. Taking that phone call from Drow and hearing the hurt, disappointment and anger in his voice felt like the rug had been pulled out from underneath him, and honestly, from underneath us too. We have encouraged him through this journey, watched him work, sacrifice, wait and believe, and just when it seemed things were coming together, suddenly everything felt uncertain again. I don't understand it, and when things don't make sense, there is a part of me that wants to throw up my hands and ask, "What's the point?"

Yet I realize this is exactly what I constantly write about. Surrender. Living today. Releasing outcomes. Finding and experiencing God in the midst of heartache rather than requiring Him to remove it. Psalm 91 doesn't promise that God will keep us from trouble. He says, "I will be with him in trouble." Maybe that is the distinction I so easily forget. The promise isn't a life without heartache. The promise is God with us in the heartache.

That doesn't mean pretending yesterday didn't hurt. There is a time to grieve, and maybe part of surrender is allowing myself to grieve without immediately trying to turn the pain into some inspirational lesson. But Scripture also tells me to rejoice always. That's hard, so hard, but I think both can be true. I can grieve what happened while still rejoicing that God is here, And perhaps that is where grace becomes something far greater than a theological idea. Grace is the realization that none of this was mine to begin with. Drow's ability is grace. His opportunity is grace. His body is grace. The people who love him are grace. The journey itself is grace. Today is grace. I didn't create any of it, and ultimately I cannot control any of it.

Comparison becomes an enemy because it can improperly discourage me when someone else's journey looks easier or improperly encourage me because someone else's looks harder. Neither has anything to do with the life God has given me today. This is our story. This is Drow's story. And this is today's page. I don't have to understand it or even like it to receive it.

Maybe the prayer isn't, "God, explain this to me." Maybe it's simply, "God, let me see You here." Let me grieve when it's appropriate to grieve, rejoice always, stop looking sideways at everyone else's journey and fully embrace what You have given me today. Because the more I look toward heaven, the more of heaven I can bring into the world around me. Heartache and joy can occupy the same space. Disappointment doesn't eliminate hope, uncertainty doesn't mean God has disappeared, and even here, God is still writing the story.

16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

 2 CORINTHIANS 4:16