O holy night… the stars are brightly shining. It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth. (With me so far?) Long lay the world… in sin and error pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth. I was listening to a podcast1 recently (titled, Your Sense of Belonging) where the lyric from…
Children Obey Your Parents
We had an interesting conversation with our teenager the other night. Ian is thirteen. That means he’s officially a teenager. He’s been there—especially in his own mind—for quite a while now, even before the calendar said he was. That’s how he came into the world, actually. He’s usually ahead of the game. And that’s his…
Detective Dad
Sometimes as a Dad, you find yourself in the role of detective. The cases are often thrust upon you quite circumstantially. There may not necessarily be a victim, who comes to you asking for the mystery to be solved. Often, the clues lie before you and it’s up to you, Detective Dad, to solve the…
[RCS] Amazon Prime
Welcome to another edition of RCS: Really Cool Stuff! Being readers, it makes sense that we are big fans of Amazon.com. (Remember when they just sold books?) Over the years Amazon has kept improving their amazing collection of books (both sold from their warehouses, and links to seemingly thousands upon thousands of booksellers around the…
[From The Archive] Feeling Loved, And Lovable
This week’s trip into the Archive will be much shorter than last week’s (sorry about the link overload with that one!) Maybe because there’s been so much to read here lately that I want to give you a break… But probably more because the content of this previously-posted article is beautiful in its simplicity. I’m…
Always Be Thankful
“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.“ I have recently been reminded of the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I read the first half or so, and then it got buried…
The Reading Chair Beckons
All day I have been thinking, I would like to sit down and write this article, or that one; things I have had knocking around in my brain and at least partly begun as drafts. But somehow almost immediately after I’ve had that thought another quickly replaces it: It’s really time to read! I have…
Imitation: The Highest Form of Flattery
Tonight at the dinner table, our youngest boy—who bears a good deal of physical resemblance to his Daddy—was particularly tuned in to my every move. He was watching (and mimicking) everything that I did. When I leaned forward onto my elbows to rest my head in my hands and wipe the tired of the recent…
Just Sickening
Sickness has invaded the Campbell home once again. We really aren’t sick all that much here, but we have of course had our bouts with various illnesses (illni?) over the years. When they hit us, they tend to stick around and cycle through all the warm bodies here a time or two. Thankfully this time…
The Illusion of Control
For some reason, though everything tells us otherwise, we all seem to have this illusion that we are in control of our lives and our surroundings. I may be speaking a good deal from my American perspective, but I do feel like it’s more of a human thing than a cultural thing. (We Americans just…