Last year I spoke at Grace Bible College in Grand Rapids. Monday Hannah and Daniel moved onto campus and joined the class of 2014. We like them being together and we like them being close to the family. It’s sad to see Wes and Dan separated. They have been inseparable buddies for years.
We bought them a few things they would need over their continual objections. They thanked us over and over again for the few simple things we did buy. As the sun set we prayed through happy tears, …

“Her children rise up and call her blessed…” (Proverbs 31:28)
She dreamed of you from the time she was a little girl cradling a baby doll in her arms. She always saw you playing around the little cottage in her childhood dreams. She carried you in her body and you made her sick every morning for weeks and weeks. She bore you into the world through intense pain but when she heard you cry and saw your wrinkled face she forgot all about it and wept tears of joy.
She fed …

Today is a bitter-sweet day for us. Two of our eight children have married and live in other states. Three more will leave today. Holly and Hannah are leaving this morning for the summer to counsel at Lake Ann. I’ve seen what the girls are taking to camp for the summer. Holly’s little Ford will be full to the sunroof. If they ever need money they can start a Thrift Store with their clothes. My heart rejoices to think of them driving into the beauty of northern Michigan to spend …

In early November 1991 a little baby boy Daniel came into our world. He was born at home in our humble farmhouse in Ohio, where the last few hills of the Appalachians flatten out into farmland stretching all the way to the Rockies. Our home was nestled there in a quiet valley. Ours was the last house on the dead-end road that stretched back to where, seventy years ago, the Kokosing River washed out the bridge. It was November 8th and outside the northern sky was lighting up in a …

The children have been buzzing with eager excitement all day. It’s an early summer evening. We’re on the way to see the Columbus Clippers play baseball. We stop at Meijer to get a two-liter for the kids to wash down a meal from the Dollar Menu so we would have the will-power to resist the expensive hot-dogs and five-dollar ball-park Cokes.
By the time we were able to get the family all to the park we were a little late. I don’t like being late. I like to get my …

If any of you ever happen to run across any storyteller signs, cups, or license plates, let me know. I love to tell stories, collect stories, hear stories, and write stories. Seventy percent of the Bible is in some form of story. The gospel that changes lives is a story. One of the most powerful ways to motivate, convict, convince, and influence people is through stories. The enemy uses them every day. People of God should too.
Have you ever noticed that grandpas are almost always story-tellers? And they usually repeat …

What memories will your children cherish when they are a long way from home one day? I like to think my children will cherish the memory of my joy in the public worship of my Savoir, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want them to remember the Lord’s Day as a special day set-apart for the honor of the Lord Jesus.
I want them to remember the Lord’s Day as a day different than any other day of the week. I want them to feel a great emptiness if their week does …

I am of the firm opinion that one should always celebrate the occasion of the first snowfall of the season. It spit snow yesterday and I was right on the fringe of breaking into celebration, but it didn’t stick. It was really not a very impressive snowfall, so it cannot be considered the first snowfall of the season. They said we could expect a couple inches of snow this afternoon, but I am about to close up my study for the day and winter night is falling and we have …

It’s the season of Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie. On the way home from speaking up north we took a few minutes to stop at Parshallville Mill. The owner showed us around the mill and I snapped this picture of fresh apple pies ready to ship. I imagined a fresh piece with coffee. There are two thousand dollars worth of fresh apple pies here. The owners drive to South Haven for the apples and bake them at the mill. If you want to take a nice little autumn day-trip it’s …

I’m in a really good mood today so I am going to give you some advice you will thank me for, for the absolute rest of your life. Get on iTunes and download all the Fernando Ortega you can afford as soon as you can. While you are at it surf over and check out the picture of his newborn daughter on his website. You can listen to one of his beautiful songs here. Now you owe me… Bigtwime.