Several years ago, I dipped my foot into the blogosphere with two intentions: First, write something helpful—on occasion, maybe even inspire. At the very least, add real value to the cultural conversation around me. Second, create a rhythm of pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) every week. For several years that was my practice. Most Mondays produced 500 words around church life, pastoral weakness, and the future of the local church. It was a joy to create something that was not spoken into the ether of an open sanctuary and, incidentally, lost moments later to thoughts of Sunday lunch. Writing was good for my soul.

Then March of 2020 broke into my neatly curated rhythm and stole something from me. Admittedly, I didn’t know anything was missing for quite some time. I wandered through my days knowing things weren’t quite right. It was almost like coming home, and someone had moved the furniture around without telling me. A few weeks of the predictable inconvenience of Covid-19 turned into a year and a half of crisis, loss, and redistribution of priorities. In addition to navigating a pandemic, our church was moving into and renovating 50K square feet of church space. If not for a supremely gracious wife, an amazing team around me, quite a bit of therapy, and pastoral friends who operate as a band of brothers, without question, I would be in a different vocation.

During this last year, I had neither emotional margin nor compulsion to add anything to the already crowded online chorus telling us who to vote for, why we should be so angry about (you fill in the blank), and why the church was failing everybody and their brother. Most days I either wanted to cry or to give everyone the bird. But grace….the grace of God saved me and is now saving me and will be saving me tomorrow.

With this nugget of truth tucked in my pastoral pocket, I am returning to a rhythm of weekly writing, God willing. If only for my own sanity, I will write. For those who care or care to read what a local church pastor, husband, or chief toilet washer is thinking, I’d love for you to join me here.