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Most parents of young children know how hectic Christmas can be.  Christmas is busy enough for everyone, with the extra social commitments, the pressure of finding the perfect gifts (and then keeping them hidden until the right moment), the work-life reality of closing out the business year, and the challenges that can only come from… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective December 19, 2024

Every year, about this time if not before, my wife inevitably asks me what I want for Christmas.  And every year, without fail, I offer very little by way of reply.  I don’t tend to put much thought towards what I would like under the tree, which is in stark contrast to what I was… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective December 12, 2024

The eight-day week that starts the Sunday before Thanksgiving and ends the Sunday after our national holiday is my favorite time of the year to be on our little island.  Two fantastic mornings of worship, the community Thanksgiving filled with fellowship and feasting, family members and friends returning to the island for the holiday, the… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective December 5, 2024

As a nation, we gather in our homes today with friends and family members to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately, there will be far too many celebrations that are missing key members or are simply far less joyful than they should be, given the deep divide created during this last election cycle.  Whether your candidate won or… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective November 28, 2024

Thirty-seven years ago, when our island’s population was considerably smaller than it is currently, an islander named John Wampler decided that it was important for the community to gather together to celebrate Thanksgiving.  After a few years, several of matrons in attendance asked to move the date of this community Thanksgiving from Thursday to the… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective November 21, 2024

While recently travelling on vacation, my wife became ill with some sort of stomach bug.  She was miserable, so I did my best to adjust our plans to allow her to recover as comfortably as possible while accounting for various plans.  Then my oldest daughter, who was travelling with us, got the stomach bug shortly… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective November 14, 2024

I had a rather remarkable evening recently, when Jan and I had the opportunity to go to an historical location for an event that had promised significant insight into that place and the family associated with it.  We were in a group of approximately 15, so there were plenty of opportunities to pose questions.  While… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective November 7, 2024

I’m the sort of person who likes to think about future events and know that I have contemplated a variety of potential outcomes, to have some degree of understanding as to how I might then respond.  I’ve found that contingency planning helps to keep me from being paralyzed or otherwise stymied when my preferred outcome… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective October 24, 2024

A young woman in Honduras was murdered earlier this week.  She had been raised in an orphanage that my family and I had visited several times, but had aged out and was making a living as a young adult.  Tragically, she was gunned down as she walked home from her bus stop, the victim of… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective October 17, 2024

As I am writing this, Hurricane Milton threatens to potentially bring tropical storm conditions to our island community.  Recognizing that even as forecasters strive to accurately predict future conditions, they can be off by a considerable amount when it comes to the local impacts of tropical systems, it is impossible to say exactly what the… Continue reading Pastor’s Perspective October 10, 2024