His Vigorous Heart

The sun beats mercilessly through the windshield as I wind my way through the streets of Highland. Yet again, my arms are not so much glistening as they are dripping with sweat. The seatbelt has already stamped a diagonal wet mark across my chest, and I haven’t even been driving for 5 minutes. It’s a good thing I remembered to stash an extra pair of clothes in my backpack this morning. My car has a leak somewhere in the air conditioning system, and none of the windows roll down--so in this Louisiana heat, some days can get pretty miserable. I arrive at the Cedar Grove Friendship House where I volunteer with under resourced high-schoolers every afternoon absolutely drenched, mumble some hello’s, and head straight for the dirty bathroom in the back that never seems to have any paper towels. As I stand there trying to wipe off enough sweat to avoid soaking my fresh change of clothes the moment I put them on, it hits me: This isn’t easy. And I’m not just talking about crappy cars or Caju...

I don’t know how personal to get, because I don’t know who might be reading this website, but I welcome you, friend and stranger alike, to discover who I am as we journey towards Christ together. I’ve been encouraged by more than a few friends to keep sharing my life by expressing it through writing, so I’ll allow this blog to be my outlet. I hope you find my “vigorous heart” refreshing, and I hope perhaps to inspire you to see life--and the Christian faith--a little bit differently than you did before. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know all the answers; I’m nobody special, but I do know what I’ve seen and what I’ve learned, and I feel compelled to offer my experiences as a chronicle here.  All that aside, it’s been awhile since I last posted a blog, so let me fill in some of the blanks that have happened in the last 9 months or so. 1.) Leaving Chicago First of all, and perhaps most importantly, I quit my job back in January. I’m not sure I ever officially ...

I don’t want to be a Christian writer if it means hitting backspace until I feel clean again. Until I’m tidy and safe and can fit easily inside of one of your boxes.  I don’t want to be a Christian writer if I have to pretend like I have my shit together, scratching out what I really feel and writing what I think your itching ears want to hear instead. I don't want to be a Christian writer if it means I can’t have doubts about this system--not the Who or the Why, but the way we go about following Him. I don't want to be a Christian writer if I have to spit out the same cliches, the same old words, the same tired traditions that no longer hold any significant meaning. (For example: Think you have your religious lexicon down? Try defining and explaining what "grace" means. Seriously, open up a Word document and type out your answer in 2 sentences or less. See how long it takes you. Then do the same thing for words like "love," "justification...