Coffee CubBuster

I didn't get to see too much of this year's Super Bowl, but it just so happened that while folding clothes I caught eye of a captivating commercial from the Kia car company. The young voice over said, "If we are not famous, we are known not by who we are, but the product we make." The still headshots of various average American workers was meant to inspire, but when I really listened, the commercial's intent left me disheartened. The hard truth is that many people agree with the Kia Telluride concept: our significance comes from what we do, NOT who we are. This approach to life creates a need to prove ourselves not just to others, but also to ourselves. The "doing" shows us and others are worth through work, and if that work is never finished (because we are all ever-changing with the seasons), then we grow wearing in our changing, growing, trying, and doing year after year. No amount of vacation time can supplement our significance. That's why we c...

My big boy was given the task of finding a quote from his draw of President Gerald Ford. This was the easiest choice, and quite poignant if you ask this mama (see video), but I didn't know Mr. Ford had another very wise word for us this President's weekend....  History and experience tell us that moral progress comes not in comfortable and complacent times, but out of trial and confusion. Maybe the current state of our democracy will increase our progress due to all the confusion that exists.  I would add that both moral and physical progress come from those tough times. Some of the least moral and least resilient people are those who have never faced true adversity. I certainly have a long way to go because my life isn't what I'd call laborious, but I pray daily against complacency in hopes of continuing to grow in my progress.  Little Levi is living proof of progress, and I pray his moral character is shaped from his story. As most have seen, Levi tends t...

Recently, I was asked to speak at an upcoming Women's Gathering for our local church on the topic of "rest." The irony was not lost on this increasingly sleep-deprived mama, nor was the requester blind to the humorous connotation. Yet, as I've been walking slowly through my Bible alone and tired, asking God earnestly to teach me fresh insights, the words are waking me from drudgery with new perfect parallels and inspiring wisdom. God has allowed me a lack of physical rest to truly teach me what the word means. It is a refinement process I require. Absence of something aids in the analysis of its power. However, before contemplating rest or R.E.M. sleep, I was first struck by the wives and patriarchs of the Old Testament. So many of them jumped ahead of God's plans, eager to be in the next phase of life they felt they were suppose to enjoy. Often we believe if we can just change one particular avenue of our lives, especially those getting in the way of o ur plans,...

Once you welcome a child into your family, your love and concern for that child is ceaseless. You can't help but worry until you learn to place your worries into wonders. When you taste the sweetness of liberty, you know how little control you actually maintain over your son or daughter's wellbeing. The love their creator has for them is far greater and far more perfect than our own. There was no way of knowing when little Luca B. was born that he would have a growing blood clot similar to a birthmark hidden deep down in his esophagus. Sometimes our inability to see things out in the open is a gift. We can't ever understand everything, and not knowing everything provides the freedom that tastes sweet because then we see who is really in control. Thanks be to God who chose in this particular instance to give us early warning of the abnormality that could have caused Luca's breathing to cease. Had this been our journey, however, I'd still praise my God becaus...

The funny  Allstate insurance commercials that personify Mayhem are only funny because if you're watching them, you aren't currently experiencing them. Rarely does laughter ensue in the midst of our  mishaps, but a great way to distance yourself from past pandemonium is to move towards amusement. Have you ever been so tired, so fed up, so beyond words that chuckling involuntarily escapes your mouth? It seems out of place, but it's a great gift from God. No one on earth is exempt from mayhem or defeat (as Allstate would agree). No matter how positive or optimistic a person, it's inevitable that hard times will surface in his/her life. Then, there are those times that you think should end happily, or seasons where you feel you're due for some reprieve, yet more of the same hard continues. If I don't get one good night's sleep... If I have to hear one more scream... If I am slighted by one more person... If I am not acknowledged for another task at the ...

I am beginning to feel the same naive excitement you feel after climbing the starting hill of a roller coaster, realizing you have zero control of your physical safety. You basically accept your limited knowledge of gravity and kinetic energy while throwing caution to the wind and lifting both hands in blissful ignorance. There is a trust in an unseen engineer and a hope of a joyful thrill ride. Young males have a greater chance of injury because they are predisposed to high risk behavior. When I worked at a brain and spinal cord injury hospital, these statistics became reality. Boys have an initial confidence in everything, providing them with a platform to jump before thinking. Now this isn't a universal truth, but I see the same hubristic attitude in my firstborn son, which finally illuminated my antithetical reflection. In other words, I have grown in experience, and my experience has led me to realize I know nothing . For starters, I had no idea my  LinkedIn  profile...