Stumbling Over the Truth

     Anyone who knows me knows I love my dog.  Three years ago a friend in our church had puppies to give away and left their pictures in the lobby of the church.  It was love at first sight, I just had to convince my wife.  Finally, I cajoled and persuaded her how great it would be to have a puppy again and she agreed.  We made all of the arrangements and brought home my dog, Daisy.      If you have ever seen the movie "Marlee and Me," the crazy stuff that Marlee does is exactly Daisy.  I can remember watching the movie thinking to myself that someone had been following me around taking notes on how Daisy acts to write that story.        While Daisy has had her share of "adventures" that one day we will look back and laugh about, there is one thing that I love desperately about her.  Every morning I get up first in my house and do my morning routine--shower, get dressed, and then go out to the family room...

      Yesterday was another long day.  Every year the staff reports back to work a week before the students do to get everything ready.  As the principal, I meet with all the teachers the Thursday before school starts to cover policies and procedures.  It is long and boring, but necessary.  Every year we discuss wanderers--those students who like to "wander around aimlessly" instead of going to class.      This morning as I was reading the Scriptures, I came across Psalm 119:10, where the Psalmist said, "With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!"  It dawned on me that the reason students wander aimlessly from classes is really the same reason you and I wander from God's Word.  Students that wander aimlessly really don't have their whole heart in whatever class or subject they are trying to get out of.       Duh!!  This is the same problem we have with the Wor...

      I woke up this morning realizing that I have many habits and characteristics that my parents have given or instilled in me.  For many of them, I am extremely thankful.  Others, maybe not so much.  Some of these are very noticeable.  In fact, yesterday as I sat in my office in a meeting with a parent of a student in my school, the conversation went to a very strange place.  The mother of this student ended our meeting with a question.  She said her husband was dying to know what I did to get my head to look so smooth.        This would have to be one of the strangest things I have ever had a person ask.  I thought it was kind of obvious how this happened.  You see my dad is bald.  Growing up there was never a time that I can remember my dad having much more hair on his head then he does now at the age of seventy-nine.  Even as a young boy in elementary school, I was teased and prepared for my life...

      I have always hated being alone.  Now I have moments when I like to be left alone to rest, and get some things done, but I hate being alone.  Really, I believe that most of us a like this because God placed within us the need to have relationships with others.        As a kid growing up I had certain responsibilities (you could call them chores) to fulfill as a member of my family.  Being the youngest, I probably got the easiest assignments, but nonetheless, I did have certain regular tasks to complete each week.  One of these tasks was the responsibility for the household garbage to be put out for the garbage collector to take twice a week.      Now that I am grown and have my own kids, I don't really think that putting the garbage out for the trash man was really that big of job.  When I was a kid, it seemed like a huge burden.  Well, maybe not huge, but it was more like a regular inconvenience. ...

     One of the greatest needs that you and I have is to feel needed.  In fact, there is nothing worse than feeling like you don't belong or are not needed.  It is like shopping with my wife for clothes.        As a man, a hunter-gather, I am very goal oriented.  So when my wife says that we should go shopping, I am wanting to know what exactly I am looking to find.  I want the color, size (by the way, be careful about asking this one), the make, and any other specs that would allow me to quickly find what we are "hunting."  But that is just it, she is not "hunting" at all.  There really is no one item that she is particularly looking to find.  So we just amble through rack after rack of clothes until something strikes her fancy.       Most of the time when it comes to clothes shopping, my help is useless.  Over the years, I have learned this and have even tried to accommodate my "hunter" tendenc...