Greetings from the Sunshine state! As we unpack and begin a new chapter in life I can’t help but think about transitions. We all have them in life, moving to a new town or state, moving up a grade or even graduating. And how we handle these natural transitions in life either helps or hinders our children’s ability to do so. Our daughter is in 5th grade. So not only is she transitioning to a new state and new school but getting ready to move into middle school. That’s a lot for one kid to handle. But she’s doing a great job. She has her moments and will continue to do so for some time but she’…

As you read this I will be on some highway heading south.  This past week has been a busy one, trying to see as many people as possible while trying to finish up the packing. If you’ve every moved out of state then you know how crazy stressful that all is! As my time here was coming to a close something strange and unexpected happened. I took the time to slow down and look around me. And what I realized is that I truly love this community. I mean that. I love Wentzville.  Leaving her feels like leaving a close family member.  Let me explain. I’ve watched her grow. When I moved here in 1984 …

Dear High School Joe, Finally through middle school!  Whew—we made it. Just barely, but we did. These next four years are going to be amazing. But while they’ll be amazing you are going to learn some really hard lessons over this time period. First let me start with your greatest joy but your biggest downfall—girls. Dude, you have got to relax. Slow down and little and breathe man. You don’t have to date all of them. I mean you certainly can try but don’t! Here in a short while after dating a few girls you will meet one that will sweep you off your feet. There’s something about her that you …

The other night my family sat at a large table with my parents and had a great dinner. We laughed and talked about our upcoming move to Florida. We talked about all the craziness going on in the news and just had a really good time. We said our goodbyes and got in the car. As we buckled up my wife turned to me and said, “I love your parents.” And I looked back and said “Me too. I’m going to miss this when we move.” I am by nature a nostalgic person. I often look back over my life and think about all the good and bad. I can hear a song and recall a specific time I heard it or look at a picture…

My daughter came home crying that day. I asked her what was wrong and at first she didn’t want to tell me. So I asked her a few more times. And on the millionth time of me asking “Are you sure nothing is wrong?” the dam broke and out poured incoherent tales of elementary school woes.  Nothing serious mind you, but to a little girl who just happens to be drama queen, everything is a big deal. She explained that her teacher had called her out in front of the class for a wrong answer on an assignment and then went over how to correctly do that problem with the entire class. And our daughter wasn…

  My dad had to sit with me every night for a solid month. A MONTH! If those lights went out, I was terrified! No amount of rational or sane thought would drive out the images clawing through my little brain. I knew, I mean I just knew that if I went to sleep that he would get me. And when I say he… there’s only one person I could be talking about: Freddy Krueger! Oh he paralyzed me with fear. I was about 10 the first time I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street. The only problem was that I wasn’t allowed to see movies like that. And now I’m having horrific nightmares about him? Even at that …

2012 was a bad good year.  There were many things that happened that I loved and just as many that I hated.  The things I hated were mostly of a national aspect but a few were personal, such as: Political campaign commercials Crazy Tea Party candidates talking about rape Mayan 2012 references YOLO (I pray I never hear that idiot phrase again…please dear God please) The Green Lantern (he was a childhood favorite & that movie just blew) Honey Boo Boo Gangnam style (I can’t stand that dude) One Direction (someone please slap those kids) Someone figuring out that you can smoke bath salts Newtown…

3 a.m. comes awfully early. When that alarm goes off like that it doesn’t wake you up, it scares you up. My wife and I got out of bed barely into December 15 and proceeded to get ready for our flight to Florida. We were flying to Orlando to interview for a position in Gainesville.  Our flight left St. Louis at 6:25 A.M. and so we got up earlier than anyone should be made to. I also made the strongest cup of coffee in the history of coffee. We had an uneventful flight to Florida. We went to pick up our rental car for the 2 hour drive north and as we headed onto the turnpike we made phone calls…

The woman that sat in front of me was an amazing person.  I wish that I could describe to you the amount of courage this person has.  She has been able to move forward, sometimes just inches at a time, during a period of trial most will never know.  And she does so with integrity and a brutal honesty that can make you uncomfortable if you’re not ready for it.  So if you ask her “How are you?”, just be ready for a real answer. Several weeks ago I wrote a post entitled “The World Lost a Hero Today”.  And by the fact that my good friend Wil was such an amazing person it was the second most read …

My daughter has been kidnapped by aliens. I’m serious!  I’m not sure where or when but at some point in time she was kidnapped by aliens, taken aboard the mother ship, and they either did something to her brain or they outright replaced her with this look-alike replica.  I personally believe that they’ve replaced her with this replica.  I can’t prove it but it looks exactly like her but acts nothing like she did! Out of nowhere my nice, sweet, innocent, wants to play with me all the time daughter turned into a whiny, complaining, lazy, can’t-be-in-the-same-room-with-me-for-more-than-two-…

She took one look at the four of us and with disgust turned and walked in the opposite direction.  My brother was left standing there holding the door handle.  He looked at me with confusion as we continued in the restaurant. We were on our way home from our grandmother’s funeral.  It had already been a long and tiring day.  We left home around 7 a.m. to make it to the church in southern Missouri in time to visit with family and be a part of the celebration service. Throughout that entire day I watched as my loved ones went to the casket and said tearful goodbyes, I love yous and Thank yous …

Life is full of ups and downs. This week I stood on a stage and helped eulogize my grandma.  I loved her dearly.  She was a good woman who lived a rough life.  Her days weren’t always filled with happiness but she somehow maintained joy in her life.  She lived several hours away and I wasn’t always able to get down there to see her but I knew that she loved me and she knew that I loved her.  This week I sat around a table and watched as my in-laws were surprised by the unexpected return of their son from the Marine Corp.  We knew about it ahead of time but it was still awesome to watch as he …

Yesterday I stood at the grave of one of my best friends. This morning I got a phone call telling me that my Grandmother had passed away. Needless to say, these past few weeks have not been good.  But I have had lots of time to think about things, to think about life. With the passing of two such huge figures in my life I have been very reflective.  I’ve been thinking about my time spent with these two people, recalling memories and funny stories, and realizing the impact they made on my life and then in turn on my family’s life. I will be heading down to southern Missouri soon to meet up …

Death is a natural part of life. Whether it’s at an old age and expected or it’s at a young age and sudden, death happens to us all.  We will all deal with that at one time or another. Death is a tragedy in that those still living are left behind to deal with the sorrow and all that it entails.  And if that death is a suicide then it compounds the situation. Two weeks ago we looked at some tips on preventing suicide.  We looked at some of the common cues to what someone could be thinking and what we as parents could do about it.  But what about after? What about everyone that’s left behind? …

The world lost a hero today. Did you hear about it? Probably not. Why would you? He wasn’t famous. He didn’t have a ton of money. He wasn’t on anything you would watch or listen to. He was just a guy. His name was Wil. Wil was my friend. I loved him very much. The kind of love that is borne out of time spent together, talking through the ups and downs of life. The kind of love that your heart reserves for those few people in life that affect you in profound ways. The kind of love that makes you a better person. I met Wil several years ago at a local coffee shop. We were part of the same …

I stood looking at her beautiful eyes. My heart was trying to claw its way out of my chest! I found it difficult to catch my breath. I pulled her closer with eyes closed and the moment our lips touched electricity overwhelmed my brain and all kinds of chemical reactions exploded any rational thought. My first kiss. Her name was Tina. I was in the 8th grade and she the 7th. Tina was friends with some girls who lived next door and also went to my middle school. So when we first noticed each other in the hallways she found out from those neighbor girls that they lived next door. Tina started to …

I can remember getting my first pair of name brand shoes like it was yesterday. You have no idea how huge this was to me! When I hit middle school my father’s business exploded (and not in the good way) and being a kid all I understood was that I no longer got the clothes I thought I needed. This all happened as I was starting 6th grade. So into the jungle of middle school I went wearing off-brand or handmade clothes. I realize and understand now how fortunate I was to even have clothes, period. Much of the world lives on less than $2-$1 a day and I’m complaining because my mom made some of …

I stepped off the bus, walked into Wentzville Middle School and stood there looking like a deer in the headlights. The place was huge and scary. Loud, unfamiliar noises came from super-sized kids from the far away land of 7th and 8th grade. I walked to the 6th grade hallway and frantically tried to make my way to the end of the hall. My locker was almost dead last and I steeled myself for the gauntlet. I wasn’t sure why but it felt like everything slowed to a crawl and people stopped to watch the small, big eared boy in Wal-Mart shoes walk by. The smiles and waves thrown out to kids I had …

I typically don’t do this. I’m not a lightning rod nor do I wish to be. But something has taken place in our society and culture that I believe will shape us for decades to come. It’s something that will change us as a nation and will have a direct impact on your family. Of course I’m talking about . . . Chicken sandwiches! Unless you live under a rock or without any access to any news source, you know that our nation has been embroiled in this highly charged and public debate over gay marriage. This particular situation really got hot in July of this year when Chick-Fil-A’s president Dan …

One candle. One candle was all it took to start a chain reaction of other candles. Soon there were many points of light breaking through the darkness of that evening.  Candles held in a circle by the hands of grieving teenagers, heartbroken by the tragic death of another friend. I was at a conference last week with a group of high school students when we started receiving text messages, phone calls and Facebook messages telling us that another of our community’s children had died suddenly. We were informed of a candlelight vigil that was to take place in one of our high schools and that many …