The Back Table

One day as I was sitting in a drive-thru, I noticed the driver behind me was moving her arms around like she was hitting something or someone. I quickly realized that it wasn't a someone that she was swatting at, it was a bee. What did I do? I did what anyone else would do. I nestled deeper in my seat and adjusted my rear and side view mirrors to get the best view, because I knew the entertainment was just beginning. And then it happened. She exploded out of her car in sheer terror. She was doing everything but the centipede to get the bee off her. This was a girl that didn't fit the type that would bring attention to herself in this way. But not today, not in this moment. All that image stuff was out the window. The bee was on her, and so was every eyeball in the vicinity. It was hard not to watch. After all, this isn't something you get to see every day. She actually ran across the parking lot leaving her car empty. Even the guy at the window stopped and watched the drama...

When I first started dating my wife, I would do anything not to embarrass myself. But as many of us know and have found out at least a few times in our lives, that is an impossible task. The most humiliating moment came at a movie theater soon after Nicki and I started seeing each other. We had gotten our seats and were comfortable, when I decided I would go out and get us some popcorn and a drink while the advertisements were playing. When I got back, the lights had been turned down and the movie was just getting started. Now, our seats were on the other side, so I had to walk across the front to get to them. Somehow I tripped, causing popcorn to fly in the air and land all over the people in the front row. Laughing, clapping, snorts, and cheers ensued while I speed walked to my seat. I was hoping that she didn't see or hear what happened. But with all the commotion (and only a few pieces of popcorn left in the giant bag), I knew I would have some serious explaining to do. But no...

The summer after I graduated from high school, my brother and I and some other friends went to Italy. We had 17 days, and all 17 days were accounted for, planned for, filled up...until we found Lake Como, that is. We were traveling by train and as we were coming down from the Swiss Alps, we saw it - the most amazing place. We all just looked at each other knowing that we were all thinking the same thing. It was one of the coolest and most beautiful sights I had ever seen live. We ended up staying there longer then any other spot that we had planned. When I first came to Christ it was like seeing the most beautiful place, He surprised me, caught me off guard. He was unexpected. When I began to explore him, when I got off the train and actually stayed, He overwhelmed me, I never wanted to leave. But something happens, doesn't it? I remember working and saving for over two years for that trip. I remember picturing in my mind what Italy would be like. Every time I thought about it I wo...

Last Christmas while I was shopping with my family, our youngest daughter Mackenzie decided to spontaneously leap out of her stroller for an afternoon jog through the very crowded mall. At first I stood there in total disbelief at what just happened; it was almost surreal...I mean, even for a two-year-old, who just gets up and starts running for no reason with absolutely no warnings or signs. For a few brief seconds it was silent like in a movie scene where a bomb goes off real close to someone and they can't hear anything and then slowly the volume comes back. Mine came back with my wife's voice asking me what the heck I was doing just standing there looking at an empty stroller. So I start running. Bobbing and weaving, ducking and jumping...I have to admit, it was kind of thrilling. I felt like I was invincible, nothing could stop me or intimidate me. I feared nothing. My goal was recapturing Mackenzie, end of story. I finally did corner her in a store, or so I thought. After...

What is the most annoying sound to you? What's the sound that makes you go to a unhappy place? For me, it's my alarm clock. I hate that thing. Don't get me wrong - I need it. I count on it. It saves me every day. It keeps me employed and my kids in school, but the sound that comes out of it is horrid. (The people who make alarm clock noises must really hate life. We all should be praying for them on a daily basis.) Every now and then a company will make the colossal mistake of having an alarm clock go off in one of their commercials. You know; you've seen them. They reenact someone sleeping in bed who can't get up because she didn't take their sleep aid pill. You just know what's coming, yet you don't believe they'll actually do it. But they do - the alarm starts going. Sometimes they let the alarm go for a few seconds...pure torture. I instantly turn it off. I yell at them (to myself), "Do you want people to buy your product or are you sick or...

There is this space between what I want to be, what I should be, and what I'm supposed to be that frightens, confuses, and sometimes paralyzes me. It's the space between Genesis and Revelation. Between "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" to Jesus spitting out lukewarm Christians. It's the space between grace and judgment. It's the space we live in right now. "What water temperature am I?" How do we measure that? Where's the spiritual thermometer? I think it can be so easy to fit into the church culture we're a part of. We figure out our temperature by comparing it to others around us and by what's being taught from the pulpit. That's why it's so huge to have a balanced teaching on grace and the seriousness of living as Jesus commanded us to live. It always amazes me to see people in churches get angry when the church decides to make more of an effort to reach out to those outside the church. Isn't ...

I have a confession to make. At my wedding, when I was told to repeat the vows, I wasn't fully there. It was all kind of hazy, weird - not like I thought it was going to be. Maybe it had something to do with all the booze I was drinking a couple hours before (just kidding, Honey...and Jake [father-in-law]). Seriously though, the only thing that was going through my mind was my voice not cracking, not throwing up and wanting to check my zipper for the hundredth time. I remember feeling white. I don't even know if that's possible, but it was for me that day. I just knew I was the whitest dude in the room. I could have been used as a night light. I'm sure people were thinking that too. I could almost hear the whispers in the ears from one spouse to another - "Honey, he would be great in the hallway by the bathroom." These aren't the kind of thoughts a groom should be having when he's about to make the most important promises to his almost-wife in front of...