Aaron's

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Like looking in a magic mirror

If I am being honest, Ezekiel, I sometimes wonder if you ever look in the mirror before you leave the house? I’m not attempting to be cruel, simply being honest, which as your father it is my duty to do. Let me just recall for you some of the outfits I have seen you wear, along with some accessories.  First, I know you’ve left the house in shorts that contain shapes, shaded in primary colors that look as though they’re…

Let the good times roll (the stone away) – Easter Sunday

In 2021, Emily and I had a vow renewal celebration on our anniversary. We invited almost exclusively family, and a few of our LONGTIME friends, and had a tiny little ceremony and a HUGE party at a friends local farm. We hired a square dance caller lady, wore fancy clothes and ate lots of really great food. It was a really special time, filled with great conversations, tons of awkward dancing, and some really important words spoken between two people…

The honeymoon is over

Honeymoons are made for fun. Planning and executing a wedding can be an extremely stressful time. People are usually moving out of their current place and into another. Even getting ready for the trip and packing your bags can turn into quite the adventure. If we’re being honest, getting married is like picking all of the most stressful moments of your life, and saying, “let’s cram them all together in one week and see who’s still standing at the end…

King of the Jews (Good Friday)

John 19:16–19 (ESV) So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” What kind of king is He? Broken and battered, bloodied and bruised.…

Awkward family dinners (Thursday)

If you ever come to my parent’s house for dinner, you’ll probably be surprised that you’re dining with a pastor. In my defense, there are also two worship leaders and a current church elder at the dinner. It’s not that we’re irreverent or “bad in any way, it’s just that sarcasm happens to be a Steffen trait that has been passed down through the generations like that hutch that no one wants but also won’t get rid of. We know…

That’s what friends are for (Wednesday)

When I was in third grade my dad threw me a surprise birthday party. I remember that it happened extremely well, because I was INCREDIBLY surprised. I walked into the back room of their house, looking for something I had been asked to retrieve, and a group of my classmates jumped out from behind the door, screamed surprise, and I nearly peed my pants. We spent the remainder of the night playing video games, eating junk food, staying up way…

Fulfilling its Holy Week destiny (Tuesday)

Anyone alive in the 90’s and early 2000’s (which I was), is familiar with the television show “Friends.” It tells the story of a unique group of six twenty-somethings in New York City, who find themselves deeply embedded and engrossed in one another’s lives - through every up and down, and twist and turn. As is the case with basically every successful sitcom, there are multiple on again off again relationships, fashion and hairstyle trends, those who find love in…

Totally Righteous (Monday)

Words often get hijacked and repurposed, especially in modern day English. If you had asked my parents what the words cool and hot meant, they would have talked to you about temperature. Ask my grandparents and they might have told you that cool meant something that was popular or en vogue, but that hot was still reserved for whether something had come fresh out of the oven or sitting in the summer sun. When I was a young man (many…

King of what? (Palm Sunday)

There’s a famous scene from the movie Aladdin, where the poor peasant boy of the same name pretends to be a prince, and rides into town trying to impress His desired princess. There are horses, soldiers, a monkey, and even a marching band. They wave flags, sing a song, shoot off fireworks and march into town with a big to-do. “Prince Ali” sits atop his majestic animal throne and is paraded into town as the biggest deal since sliced bread,…

When I held you in my arms

I didn’t know who you would become or how much I could love my little girl that night, when I held you in my arms. The nurses pulled you out of the tub and handed you to me. They told me to take off my shirt, and hold you to my chest, and who was I to argue? The moments raced by as quick as the questions in my head.  What do I ACTUALLY know about girls?  How do you…