Hurricane Florence and 9/11 | Waiting For The Storm

Seventeen years ago, I was asleep in my dorm room at University Towers on the campus of NC State University. My phone rang. It was my mom. “Hey, bud. Turn on the news. A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center.” Along with the rest of the known world, I watched in horror as the events unfolded before our eyes in nightmarish fashion. It was the worst case scenario—something we’d never imagined. I remember the fear. It felt like […]

Continue Reading

Stress and the Gift of Rest

Sometimes, God hides truth just beyond our view. We get to choose whether we’re going to complain that we can’t see what He’s doing, or we get to go an an adventure to seek it out. That’s because God knows that for deep truth to sink in, we can’t be told, we have to be shown. After five years of writing and seeking, I’m finally beginning to understand the deep truth of rest. Stress is a Thief Our world is […]

Continue Reading

Living From Passion or Living Under Pressure?

Do you live from passion, or do you live under pressure? As a young, hungry salesman I lived and worked from passion. The newness of the career and the open road ahead were exciting. But in time, providing for my family, the demands of the career, and juggling what seemed to be an insurmountable amount of responsibility began to create pressure. Whether it’s navigating your career, caring for your kids, or serving at a church or organization, I’m sure you’ve […]

Continue Reading

An Adventure Worth Living

Five years ago, I was a 31-year-old dad of three, who had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to life than I was experiencing. Beneath the busyness of daily demands and the roller-coaster of life’s circumstances, it felt like something was missing. I opened up a journal and wrote these four questions on the page: How have the events in my life led me to where I am today? What am I supposed to do with my life? How […]

Continue Reading

You Can’t Spell Relationship without R-E-S-T

Over the past few weeks, I have found myself navigating a tension. Since leaving my career to step into full-time ministry with our organization, YouPrint, my schedule has been busy. Between meetings, our radio show expansion and corporate engagements, my time has been filled. But beneath the full schedule is a lurking emptiness. This weekend, as I was spending some time alone at the beach preparing for my sermon, I felt God say, “Don’t become so busy with this stuff […]

Continue Reading

Hope is Hard | A Lesson From My Son

When my wife and I were navigating infertility and the aftermath of bad decisions, it was hard. Actually, hard isn’t an applicable word. It felt impossible. In that moment, we were no longer concerned with having a family, we were concerned with saving our marriage. The immediate feeling was hopelessness. It was an empty feeling with one logical outcome—giving up. But for reasons beyond logical explanation, we felt God’s presence more powerfully that we had ever felt it before. And […]

Continue Reading

Welcome to Ham House

For years I’ve been fascinated with parody songs, skit comedy and impressions. But that part of me always lingered in the background covered up by a career and the opinions of people. People told me that if I wanted to be a professional, I needed to act like one. Impressions and silly songs were for clowns. After I resigned, I remembered the boyish fascination and began to step into it. I started watching old Saturday Night Live skits, stand-up comedians, parody […]

Continue Reading