My wife is scheduled for surgery this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She will be in the hospital for one or two nights. We live about 3½ hours from the hospital, so we will be gone for about three days. We are optimistic that her recovery will go well…
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For the last two weeks, my family has celebrated a significant milestone for my youngest son, Caeleb. He graduated high school and now looks forward to life as a college freshman. My boy is excited about this new adventure. While I’m grateful that he celebrated a mountaintop experience, I…
On a recent Sunday afternoon, cabin fever got the best of my family and we headed out to see where the road would take us. Our parameters were straightforward: It had to be within an hour, and the destination had to involve water. Because local traffic has been nearly absent,…
My husband, Jared, and I have a great connection. In the nine years we’ve been together — five as a married couple — we’ve never run out of things to say. Every day brings a new topic to discuss. Conversation flows easily between us, even if it’s about a controversial…
I recently came across an NBC News Think essay about the oft-overlooked privilege of being able to focus on one’s studies while in college. It reminded me of how my parents supported me through my own college years, and how I failed to fully appreciate how fortunate I was…
Every year at the First United Methodist Church of Belen, New Mexico, where I serve as pastor, I present a Bible to those graduating from high school and/or college. I select one of its verses that I feel connects with each specific recipient, and then I read the…
Whenever I scroll through my Instagram feed, I often reflect on the “what ifs” in my life. For example, what if my life had unfolded exactly as I had envisioned it during my youth? As a child, I was a dreamer with countless aspirations. I envisioned living in a different…
Pain can alter people’s behavior, causing them to act out in unusual ways. People experiencing a severe degree of pain may hurt others emotionally or physically, often without meaning to. They might say demeaning things to their caregivers while in the throes of pain, even if they’re normally calm,…
It took one year for Dona Krystosek to get a diagnosis for her son, Levi, after he was born. The family received three misdiagnoses of fatal diseases until they found out Levi has Jansen’s metaphyseal chondrodysplasia — an extremely rare form of dwarfism.  “The hardest thing…
When I reflect on the unexpected detours my life took when my wife, Cazandra, and I had children, I cannot help but feel gratitude for them. They led me to where I am now. The author and teacher Joseph Campbell once wrote: “We must be willing to…