My wife, Liz, is an amazing mom to our four children. We’ve walked through a challenging season with her health that has proven to be both humbling and empowering. As you read her story, we hope it will be both humbling and empowering for you as well. In the fall of 2011, I gave birth to identical twins boys. Despite being born six-weeks early, each weighed six pounds. I knew that pregnancy had done a number on my body, but […]
This April, my wife and I will have been married for twelve years. And I’ve spent the majority of those twelve years bouncing back and forth on the pendulum of pleasing her and simply shutting off. It’s an exhaustive charade that has robbed me of peace and caused me to fall into the trap of loving her circumstantially. I treasure the fact that she challenges me and pushes me beyond my comfort zone, but it grates on every last nerve. For more than thirty years, I’ve been […]
I have a dear friend who has been given an incredible gift: her eyes find beauty in the mundane. Her passion is to uncover meaning in the everyday moments as she captures life through her lens. In my humble opinion, she is a modern-day Rembrandt of photography. Sometimes she captures an image so extraordinary that it demands your attention—a picture worth a thousand words. In this case, I felt compelled to share those words with you. At this moment in the history of […]
The mouth of a three, soon-to-be, four-year old is a wondrous thing. As they are exposed to the unfolding world around them, they are constantly processing, digesting new vocabulary. At times, it’s quite scary; you never know what they might say. My son, Matthew, is no different. In this case, however, his words moved me. They pierced through my exterior and touched the very deepest part of my being. I couldn’t believe they came out of his mouth; innocence and […]
The conversation started with frustration as MJ, my three-year old, complained, “Why can’t Mommy put me to bed?” “Because buddy, she’s downstairs resting.” “But I don’t want you to put me down Daddy!” His 3-year-old temper was on the verge of a meltdown. My reply was probably a little harsh. “Well buddy, there are some little boys that don’t have a daddy, so we need to be thankful that we can spend some time together before we go to sleep.” […]
I have a financial advisor that oversees my retirement accounts. Occasionally, I’ll watch the chart tick up and down with the ebb and flow of the market, wondering if my investment will pay off. On a personal level, I invest in myself. I read books, take courses, eat well, and join the gym. On a spiritual level, I invest in a relationship with God. I read His Word, I journal, and I pray. But, I’m reminded this morning of one investment whose dividends […]
When my wife and I prayed for a family, we didn’t understand why God made us wait nearly three years for our prayers to be answered. All of the heartache and pain didn’t seem necessary. Why would a good, loving God drag us through a desert-like season that almost cost us our marriage? The wisdom of hindsight has revealed that God was simply preparing us for three boys. While infertility and marital struggles were challenging, nothing has been more challenging than parenting these […]
We get busy in life. Matt reminds us of why we dedicate ourselves to something other than ourselves.
- Robert Wagnon, CEO, Republic State Mortgage
