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Last night we walked down to the river after supper. We don’t live near just any river.  A quick 10 minute drive, and we are looking at class IV rapids that draw kayakers and adventure athletes from around the world to play and compete. In fact, one of our people holds the Title 2019 ICF Canoe Freestyle Junior Men World Champion, largely because of the time he spends training in our river.   I tell you this to set the stage for today’s pondering.  Last night, the Chattahoochee was just raging. While the kids love to climb the rocks at...

Does anyone else feel overwhelmed by news, opinions, and the realization that you don’t know what you can actually trust?  Everyone has an agenda, everything is spin. There are underground bunkers somewhere and computer nerds are generating bots to churn out misleading drama....it can go dark if you let it... No matter the motivation, I’m so tired of feeling like the only way to know what is real is by trying to become an expert on all the things. I think we either tend to shut down because it’s overwhelming, or we become obsessed.   One side effect I have...

“Amanda. He didn’t make it”.   One sentence.   One phone call.   Nothing is the same again after. Ever.   There are very few moments in life when the whole world seems to both stop and spin out of control. My Nic. Broken in a million pieces an ocean away.  Neither of us have a clue what was said after that. Does it even matter?  Words can’t help.   I just kept crying “Jesus Jesus we need you so desperately.”   War is so painful. Doug loved America. He was a smart, West Point grad. He was a methodical...

Today, you close out 6th grade. I have to be honest. I have somewhat dreaded this season in your life. It’s the age I have always heard is super hard, where so much about your kid will change and who knows what will shake out. Who would have ever seen this year coming?  Who would have thought corona would hijack it, not hormones?   I am a half a minute into parenting a preteen, but I have definitely seen you change in a few obvious ways that I want to document and celebrate and offer as encouragement to parents who’s...

Traditions have always seemed somewhat like a noose to me if I’m honest. My daddy was a pharmacist at the hospital, so he worked crazy random hours. Because of that, we just didn’t really have traditions. I watched other people roll their eyes at family expectations, so I was totally fine being a random, free spirit when we started our family.   Until....   One summer when Asher was pretty young and we were at the beach, Mr. Early Riser caught me sneaking out to grab a coffee and have an early morning alone at the beach. I told him...