Nane and Me (Armenia, July 30, 2025) A few weeks ago, I returned from my third mission trip to Armenia , and it was nothing short of amazing! I’ve really grown to love this place and its people. Last year, I met a little girl named Nane. Some of you may have heard me talk about her before. This year, I hadn’t even been there a few hours before I reunited with her! When she came up the stairs of the church, we immediately recognized each other and ran into a big embrace . Even

This past summer, I led a team of high school students from our church to Costa Rica on our first youth international mission trip . One of my favorite parts of international mission trips is the flight. Unlike most people, I love the airport and the plane ride—even the 12–14-hour ones ! Costa Rica was my fifth of six international mission trips, and I am always fascinated as we climb to cruising altitude. As we get further from the ground, we get closer to the clouds. And t

The school year is rapidly coming to an end with many high school graduations just a few weeks away. As summer approaches, a million things are happening all at once. And this is no different for churches. This past Wednesday night, I decided to do something special with our youth ministry . Instead of our normal Youth Group with games, Bible Study, and small groups, we went to the local Mexican restaurant across the street. As a group. So there we were, 19 of us, taking up t

This week I was having a conversation with a couple of classmates in a coaching class I am taking. It was a demo where I was being coached while one of my classmates was the coach. The intention is to help us get more comfortable coaching and to apply what we have learned. When we had finished our trial run, the three of us were debriefing how it went. One big realization was that giving voice to an idea to someone outside your spouse gives it more validity. When it is just s

This is part eight, the final blog post, of my Panama reflection series . A little over five months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. This COVID-19 outbreak has appeared to wreak havoc on our lives as we knew it. Every parent is now a home-school teacher. Working from home is no longer a rarity. Many restaurants have adde

This is part seven of my Panama reflection series . A little over five months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. Crazy times we live in. We will not forget this – the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been warned to stay at home, social distance, and wash our hands all the time. Sports seasons have been cancelled or postponed. Air

This is part six of my Panama reflection series . A little over three months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. These days, my church could better be described as the arm sling capital of Virginia. We have so many members who have had shoulder surgery and are in the big, immobilizing arm slings. Those injured cross many dif

This is part five of my Panama reflection series . A little over two months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. At my church right now, we are winding down the Upward Basketball and Cheer season, and I am having a better season than I had last year as a coach. Recently though, one of my better players, arguably my best play

This is part four of my Panama reflection series . Two months ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. This past Saturday was a rough day for me at our church’s Upward Sports Basketball games. On three different occasions, I was upset by the lack of respect of some of the kids participating in our program. These children were ta

This is part three of my Panama reflection series . This time a month ago, I was in Panama on a mission trip with a group of pastors from Virginia. This series of articles is my effort to share some of my experiences while also debriefing from my trip. Enjoy. One of the things that is NOT on my bucket list is to drive around in another country besides the United States. I have enough issues navigating other states here in the United States (just ask students who have gone on

The next eight posts are going to be a series of reflections based on my recent mission trip to Panama . The first one is titled “Love of Country”. Enjoy. I have been back in the United States for about five days, and I have been thinking a lot about my recent mission trip to Panama. This is the second time I have been to this country, and this trip was very different than my last one. I have been asked by everyone “how did your trip go?” My response has been simply, “It was

Have you ever spent time working on a plan for anything and then when it is time to execute that plan it does not work like you planned it? Many people know exactly what I am talking about. We all spend a considerable amount of time crafting up the perfect schedule just to get the random person interrupting it or constructing the perfect grocery list full of health and thrift just to smell the fresh baked doughnuts when you walk in the store or maybe organizing every detail

This past Sunday, I had a really busy and crazy day. I was coming home from out of town and I was a bit behind schedule. I thought I had a plenty of time but I didn’t. I had to be back for Youth Group at 5:30pm. I literally pulled in the church parking lot at 5:28pm. My adult leaders and several youth were out in the parking lot entertaining themselves. I ran inside, turned on all the lights and unlocked the doors. Once everyone was inside I had to run back home because our t