Category: Daily Life

I’ve been camped in one ministry for over four decades. I’m a preacher of sorts, if you want to call me that. And if you don’t, that’s OK too. I’m a volunteer for Campers for Christ, an organization formed to bring church to campers. I take charge of a service at a local state park six or seven weekends a summer.  Dad was hoping I’d become a preacher like he was. However, I didn’t make it over to the seminary across the road from the college I graduated from.  He gave me a hard time at …

I made it all the way from the Ohio River to Lake Erie on the OTET (Ohio to Erie Trail) in 2024. I finished the journey on November 13. The trip was a blast, especially the last 2/3 of it. That’s because I had discovered the way to bikepack. All it took was adding one more wheel to my ride. Friends have asked about the trip, with more questions about the trike than about the trail. I’m writing this with those questions in mind. I don’t know exactly when the search for a recumbent three-wheeler started, …

Bonnie and I needed Halloween props and candy for an upcoming Trunk or Treat event at our church. We got a lead from a friend that a local box store had just what we needed. She forgot to tell us, though, that our money would be no good there. We found candy-scented markers, Play-Doh, bottles of bubbles, glow sticks.  And what kid can resist slime? We tossed three giant bags of fun-size candies into our cart as well. Wow, $30 each, but at least the shelf labels promised a two-dollar instant refund per bag at the …

Back in December Bonnie and I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie almost every day with our lunch. I like them for the most part—because I like almost everything about Christmas. However, when our preacher exposed his negative feelings from the pulpit towards “those Hallmark guys,” that’s the closest I’ve ever come to saying “amen” out loud in church.  Probably good I didn’t. The last time somebody shouted “amen,” everybody turned and stared. Not only that, but the preacher lost his place. (Kidding, but it could happen.) Those Hallmark guys give everyday husbands a bad name. They …