faith (Christian living)

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Back to basics

Basics are always important. No matter what arena of life you’re in, they lay the foundation for everything everything that you’re going to try and accomplish moving forward. Every soldier starts in basic training. Chefs all learn how to set an oven temp and melt butter in a pan. You have to know your letters before you can learn to read, write and spell. No matter what you’re doing, learning the basics is the proper place to start.  Christianity is…

My mask

It wasn’t even that good of a movie. Sure it made Jim Carrey more famous than he already was, but it was too unrealistic in my opinion. That green mask and all the weird cartoonish animation. It just made it seem completely unbelievable. Although perhaps that was the point? The overarching idea that masks are not reality, and they portray something fake and misguided. Maybe they were geniuses all along, and I am just now figuring it out.  Unfortunately, while…

Community comes calling

I used to watch this show called “How I met your mother.” It was pretty funny honestly. The finale was kind of a bummer if I’m being honest, but otherwise I thought it was worth setting the DVR for every week. The show was FULL of running jokes that would pop up throughout the seasons, calling back to previous episodes and situations, reminding viewers of something hilarious that had happened, and that this was one of their favorite shows for…

A better kind of book

I don’t like to read books. There, I said it. I’m not exactly sure what it is about them that turns me away, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to pick up the habit.  My ENTIRE family seems to love them. My dad reads books like people eat meals. My grandfather was the editor-in-chief of a highly successful and well-known local newspaper, so we know that guy loved him some reading too. My uncle, collects old books just…

The day I gave myself away

June 17th, 2006 was a Saturday. I don’t remember the exact temperature, but I know it was hot. The uncomfortable kind of hot, because it was sticky like a sucker one of my kids left on the backseat of my car for me to find later. Anyway, that was day I gave my life away. I stood in front of my dearest friends and family, and promised to give Emily Ann Wenzel the best (and worst I guess) of me,…

Giving up on getting even

There’s this thing about baseball that I think is pretty cool. They have what are considered to be “unwritten” rules. These are guidelines that apply to situations where there is no actual rule in the rulebook, but it is understood that there are certain things that everyone does or does not do. The unwritten rules also apply in such a manner that, if A happens, then B is likely to also occur.  For example, there is a very exciting scenario…

A simple step of faith

Peter is my favorite disciple. I know we aren’t supposed to pick favorites (that’s something people say, right?), but he absolutely one hundred percent is mine. If you scroll back through the pages of this blog, you might find me saying that one of the reasons is because I so identify with him, and I guess that would be true. He often speaks or acts before he thinks, he leads with his heart, and he many times finds himself in…

Disciplined disciples

I read the Bible almost every single day. At least five out of seven days, and usually it’s more like seven days a week. It’s a fun thing to say, and it sounds good coming out of my mouth - but the truth is, I am kind of a cheater. My job requires me to be in God’s Word; reading it, interpreting it, discerning what it teaches, and relaying that information to a world that is in desperate need of…

Parenting on purpose

“Hello, Grandma.” Those were the first words I said to anyone other than my wife the day I officially became a father. It seemed like a fitting way to tell my mom that there was now another generation of our family. On June 9th, 2012, my wife gave birth to a wonderful little guy that we named Ezekiel. He’s pretty rad. Always has been. But from that day on - as every parent knows - my life has never been…

Laying down for love

The room had pink carpet. Not just any kind of pink either, but in-your-face, highlighter, abrasive, pink carpet. Not that you really ever saw it - the room was filled with rubbermaid bins, mostly filled with fabric and stamps, stacked 3 or 4 high - but it had been my wife’s childhood bedroom for a time, and her father had made the egregious mistake of telling her that she could pick out WHICHEVER carpet she wanted. He was a man…