Reformed. Baptist. Growing.

A favorite hymn of our family is “What Wondrous Love is This.” It’s a great Southern hymn that fills our hearts with the glories of Christ’s love. There’s just one problem phrase in the hymn. Now, it could be that there’s something of “artistic latitude” in this, but we’d rather be able to sing with gusto and full faith. So, at least in our home, we changed some words. Rememb...

Usually “Best of” lists are done some time in December, but I figured I’d do my “interesting reads” from 2025 today (New Years 2026). Without much comment, here are some books that stood out for me in 2025 (book titles have hyperlinks for anyone to click):

“Say, ‘¿Cómo estás?’. Ok, now, when someone says that to you, say, ‘Bien, ¿y usted?” These are some of the earliest memories I have of my tata. Tata. There’s a word that’s not as well known outside the Mexican community as “nana,” but one that everyone used in reference to my tata, my grandfather (the “T’s” in tata are a soft “th” sound like in “the,” rather than a hard “T” s...

Like others, I have been particularly given to lament this past week. The brutal slaying of Iryna Zarutska, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and reflections on 9/11 and the deaths of Nekl Allen and Daniel Coxe (fellow soldiers from my first deployment) have compounded the sorrow. The night of Kirk’s assassination, I wrote out this prayer of mine for our nation. Perhaps it w...