Children seem naturally good at play. I love watching them with the bubbles at the 9:01 service on the lawn. But somewhere along the way to adulthood, many of us lose that sense of playfulness.

Children today have more toys than children in previous generations. But they are not more playful! In his book “Play-full Life: Slowing Down and Seeking Peace,” author Jaco Hamman describes the barriers to a playful life and also the spiritual benefits of becoming play-full in the whole of our lives, not just in brief snippets of recreation.

When I was young and single, people would tell me that when you marry, you don’t just marry the man but you marry his family as well. I didn’t believe it.

When you see a person on the street corner holding a cardboard sign, you are confronted with the housing crisis. Is there enough room in the shelter tonight? Is that person couch surfing with relatives?

When I was leading the young adult ministry at our church, I tried to convince all the 20-somethings to sit together in the front pews to provide good visibility for other young guests at worship.

My mother-in-law used to say, “I take photos at family gatherings because I’m too nervous during the event to enjoy it.” After it was over, she could look back at the photos and truly savor the joy of laughter, conversation, eating pie and cookies with the whole family gathered under one roof.

“Can that wall come down?” “I don’t know, is it load-bearing?” Whether you are remodeling a church classroom or a home kitchen, you have to watch out for the load-bearing walls.

I’m still recovering from Easter. Not just from the festivities of the day which were grand, not just from the spiritual journey through Lent and Holy Week.

Outside my office window, the crimson and magenta azaleas bloom, and the red bud trees blossom. (I wonder why they are not called purple buds?) They look like they are just poised to open up on Easter Sunday. 

I took Mom and Dad, 88 and 89 respectively, to buy new cell phones. We spent two hours in the store before we realized we needed some passwords safely stored back at the house.

The word “Lent” means “lengthen” and is often associated with the longer days of Springtime. Historically, Christians have asked themselves to stretch spiritually during this season, either by denying themselves some ordinary pleasure or adding some edifying practice such as prayer.

Instead of reading the usual column today, please take some time to enjoy this 5-episode mini-documentary series on the Tanzania mission partnership (total runtime 22 minutes).

Out the window of my third-floor study loom shades of grey. Charcoal tree branches absent of leaves. Ashen sky successfully hiding any hint of Earth's red sun. Slate rooftop sheltering families.

“I'm sorting through my things to give away half of what I own.” My eyes widened when she proclaimed this. Of course, most of us have some shirts we never wear or some belts that no longer fit.