Yesterday, my wife called me at work and told me there was an animal of some kind in the chimney. “How do you know?” I asked. “There are little pieces of leaves and cotton falling down into the fireplace, and I can hear scratching noises.”
Category: This and That
Rest in Peace, Baby Mary Diana
Last week in Chicago, a man found a newborn baby girl lying on the ground outside his apartment. Her umbilical cord was still attached and she was barely alive after suffering blunt force trauma. She died shortly thereafter, and police later discovered that she had been thrown from a ninth story window by her mother.
Old Dreams Come Back to Surprise Me
Whenever I visited my Aunt Susan as a kid, I begged her to let me borrow her camcorder so I could produce “TV shows.” A lot of my productions were my best imitation of NBC’s Today Show. And during the show, I did things like interview my brother Caleb about the Sears catalog, interview my cousin about the artwork on the wall, or engage in aimless monologues.
I Don’t Enjoy Every Moment with My Kids (and That’s OK)
It was Christmas of 1984, and my mother crammed my three older siblings and me into a compact car and took us to Arkansas to celebrate the holiday. I vaguely remember it — my mother, on the other hand, remembers it quite clearly. Apparently, it was pretty rough. No doubt, putting one adult, two older teenagers and two small boys into a small car for six hours was a recipe for disaster. One of us — I shall not say who — was behaving horribly and Mom couldn’t seem to get control of the situation. She was exasperated nearly the entire time.
The Reason I Endorsed “The Dating Manifesto”
Let me share a dirty little secret from the publishing world: There are some people who write endorsements for books without reading them. I am not one of those people.
If You’re Wondering How I Write So Much
About once a week, I get the same question about my writing: “Where do you find the time to do it so much?” I can tell you this: it ain’t easy.
For the Love of God, Let Go of that Flag
Last week, I was vacationing in South Carolina when I drove past a billboard with a Confederate flag in the background and the words “Never Forget” emblazoned across it. I was embarrassed then, but as I thought about it this week, another thought crossed my mind: “How must African-Americans in South Carolina feel about that billboard as they grieve the murder of nine black church members in Charleston by a white supremacist?”
Before We Speak our Minds on Social Media
Right now, the city of Baltimore is littered with damage from rioters who, for whatever reason, thought violence was an appropriate way to protest the death of a man in police custody. At the same time, people are littering their Facebook and Twitter news feed with commentary about it. Some of the statements are more thoughtful, some are less thoughtful, but all of them potentially come with a price.
Blogging is Like Running a Lemonade Stand
On Jan. 8, 2010, I sat down and wrote my first post over at my personal blog, wondering if it might go viral. It did not, but I was undeterred. I figured it would just take some time — you know, six months or so — before the world recognized my talent. I would become a blogging rock star and be on my way to a book deal. Or not.
How Far is Too Far Before Marriage?
Although I got a lot of things wrong when I was dating, I had one general policy I still do not regret: I felt it was best to keep my hands off the women I dated.
Single, Male Train Wreck – Any Takers?
If there’s one thing that married folks quickly forget after they tie the knot, it’s this: Singleness often hurts. The most frustrating part for a lot of single people who desire marriage is the mounting pressure to get on with it, to find (or be found by) someone now. The unspoken judgment seems to be that the single man or woman would be married if there weren’t something wrong with them.
One of the Most Important Things You Can Do for Your Future Spouse
It was my first year of law school, and I was single. I wanted to be married, but it didn’t matter. I was spending 12 hours a day in class or in the library, so there wasn’t any real chance of my getting to know anyone.
Five Lessons from Five Years of Blogging
Five years ago today, I published my first blog post on a rinky-dink website I called Spiritual Klutz. That post was a little essay called “Fatherhood Hits Me Upside the Head,” which I managed to write in spite of the grogginess and exhaustion of being a new dad. In the 1,825 days that have passed since then, I’ve posted hundreds of blog posts, Facebook status updates on my page, and a few tweets; and I’ve learned some valuable lessons in the process. Here are five of them that I’m happy to share with my fellow bloggers:
The Top Five Posts of 2014
I have a confession to make. In 2014, I did something I had never done with my blog in the five years I’ve been writing it: I purposely did not check the stats for how many people were reading each post.
For the Life of the World: The Best Christian Film Series I’ve Ever Seen
I’ll shoot straight with you: I really struggle with a lot of Christian movies, music and TV shows that try to teach biblical truths. A lot of it is so heavy-handed that it only appeals to evangelical audiences looking for an altar call at the end, or it’s so seeker-friendly that it’s not much deeper than the theology you might find in a movie on the Hallmark Channel.
Joshua Rogers 