My wife took the beautiful photo that inspired this painting.There was something about this dandelion that captivated me. He’s reaching the end of the line. He is weary, but remains proud and steadfast. Some called him a weed, disrupting the status quo and infecting the neighborhood. But he knows the truth. He has run his race, and is now ready to give it all away, to multiply himself by scattering the seeds in order to bring forth new life. And in the midst of his sacrifice, with the sun setting on his last day, light shines through as a symbol of the grace within. I call this piece “Good …
Faith
Life is Like Harry Potter
I just finished reading the final Harry Potter book to my kids. We are now champing at the bit, excited to watch the final two movies.As we were reading through the series, I suspected that things would turn out well for Harry in the end. Even though I was fairly certain of a happy ending, I still wanted to read the last book. Because I wanted to find out the how. I wanted to experience the surprises, see the impossible problems get solved and the loose ends get tied up.I wish I could always keep this perspective in mind in my own life.Last year, during a retreat, I read though a bunch of old …
Dawn Is Coming
It is always dawn somewhere in the world. That fascinates me. When someone is in the middle of the blackest night, someone half a world away is experiencing the joy of a new day. That’s how life is: seasons of light, seasons of dark.I can hardly believe that just a little over a year ago, my family was on Lanikai Beach, watching the sun rise over these two small islands called Na Mokulua, aka the Mokes. I was booked to speak in Honolulu and this trip seems like an even greater blessing considering how this year has unfolded.Some days Kim got up to watch the sunrise while I stayed back as the …
Proof of Life
Every so often in my life, things are going along swimmingly. I know where I’m going, the path is clear, progress is being made. Everything makes sense and the future is bright. I like when life is like that.But then, seemingly overnight, everything goes dry. Sand has obscured my path, and I feel like I’m in a barren wasteland, uncertain of which direction to head. I wonder if all the progress and clarity I’d experienced was merely a mirage, because suddenly all signs of life are absent. I am stranded in the desert and all hope is drying up. Perhaps you’ve felt this way recently. Maybe …
How to Win the Battle Between Light and Darkness
Antonio Gwynn is an 18-year old high school student. He’d been watching all the unrest on the news and witnessed the damage that had been done in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. He decided it was time for action.If you watch the news, you may have heard that we are at war. It’s true, but the war is not between races, or political parties, or people who say “pop" versus “soda." We are in a battle of light versus darkness. Only when you understand that can you figure out how to achieve victory. I am saddened that when I see people talk on the news about what actions need to be taken, …
[Read more...] about How to Win the Battle Between Light and Darkness
Hope In The Darkness
It was a dark and stormy night...…that lasted for two months. 😳That’s the season we find ourselves in, when darkness has filled the entire world and months feel like centuries.As I think about darkness, I can't help but think of a strange quality we humans have. Whether it’s a handful of birthday candles in a darkened room, the glowing embers from a campfire in the woods, or the flickering stars in a night sky, we can’t help but be drawn to the light.Throughout this pandemic, a particular phrase has resurfaced again and again during my morning quiet times: fix my eyes.I’ve been encountering it …
Own This Moment
The great philosopher Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem, once said, Look...if you had one shotOr one opportunityTo seize everything you ever wantedIn one momentWould you capture itOr just let it slip?You better lose yourself in the music, the momentYou own it, you better never let it goYou only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blowThis opportunity comes once in a lifetime– "Lose Yourself" by Eminem It may seem weird to think of this moment in which we find ourselves as the opportunity of a lifetime. After all, none of us asked for it, and all of us wish we could get back to …
How to Change the World
Over the holiday break, my family bought a cow, two goats, and four chickens. No partridge, but we did also buy a fruit tree. In what has quickly become my new favorite tradition, after a turkey dinner on New Year’s Eve, my family sat around the table to discuss how we’d spend money we’d be donating to Compassion International. When we started our business twenty years ago, I knew I wanted it to have a charitable component. Most companies give from their profits. I didn’t know how long it would take us to be profitable (spoiler alert: seven years!), so I came up with a different plan. …
Hope in the Desert
When Kim and I started this adventure, we were optimistic. Very. When we decided to abandon my career as a freelance illustrator and designer, we felt very strongly that my comic strip Kim & Jason was going to hit the big time. We planned to live on Kim’s kindergarten teaching salary, which we knew would require sacrifice, but we were fairly certain that within a year, Kim & Jason would take the world by storm and we’d be exchanging phone calls with Oprah and her people. We had no idea it would take five years before we’d be able to earn a living with our …
A Message for When You Feel Like a Failure
Grace is a tricky thing. It’s something we all need but are loathe to accept. Although we perhaps aren’t as generous with it as we could be, we’d still much rather give it than receive it. My son Ben is seven. He has been writing books, typing pages on the computer and printing them out, leaving plenty of space for illustrations. (As I have taught him. ;) His most recent version was about Ninjago, a weighty tome that was a full eight pages in length. Ben’s big sister Lucy served as editor, helping correct some misspellings and punctuation errors. Before her involvement, the sentences …
[Read more...] about A Message for When You Feel Like a Failure