I love living on the Oregon coast. Though I do not get on the beach as much as I'd like to, the natural beauty and relaxed pace of life help me keep my priorities in check. I love laughter and wish I could have more of it in my life. I love my wife. Each day I am blown away at how well my wife complements my weaker areas. She is so compassionate and such a servant. I love vacuuming. I also love eating pizza. I don't know what it is about pizza but since I was little kid I have loved it. I love reading in bed, and playing cribbage (not necessarily playing cribbage in bed). I love my supportive parents (both my own and my in-laws). And I love the challenge of working out my faith within this broken world.

A significant chunk of my work as program director at Twin Rocks Friends Camp includes recruiting young adults interested in our summer staff program. Part of this process involves my wife and me interviewing numerous college students from around the Northwest. I'm often so impressed by the willingness of many of these applicants to share openly and honestly about their lives, their goals, and their desire to serve the Lord. Each year there is a point in this process when I think, "Would I respond with such openness if these types of questions were asked of me?" What words would you use to describe yourself? How are you cultivating your relationship with Christ in the day to day? Describe a recent conflict you've had with a friend or peer.

It's intimidating to think about how I would share about these aspects of my life with people I've only just met. And yet, for me, writing is my attempt to reflect and respond to these types of questions. Through my experiences watching, reading, eating, playing, relating, and observing, I hope to offer more than my perspectives on life and living; it is my prayer that my words, as well as the words God gives me, may be tools for challenging myself and others to think more deeply about what shapes our faith in light of the world in which we live.

Here are a few quotes I appreciate from a couple of authors I admire:

At the heart of marriage is the balance between privacy and community. Marriage, to be sure, is an intimate matter, the making of a partnership that knits two people together in secret and inside ways…But it is a pernicious myth of modernity that marriage is merely private: marriage is also a community endeavor. It is your friends and family who help you stay straight and true when your marriage feels too crooked or curvy. (Lauren Winner, Mudhouse Sabbath)

The boy in the pool looked up and smiled. He was like me, he was exactly like me. Yet he wasn't me at all. There was none of the confusion in him, none of my nervousness, nothing the least bit sad or dull or hesitant. His features were mine exactly, with a single, all-encompassing difference: they had that indescribable quality—the kingdom quality…Everything about him was matchless, perfect. And the instant the word perfect popped into my head, I realized, despite his size and resemblance to me, who he could only be. The boy in the pool was Christ. (David James Duncan, The Brothers K)

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