[ In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the release of Penguins Can’t Fly this month, this is the third in a series of lessons we can learn from some historical rulebreakers, Wilbur and Orville Wright. ] What are you waiting for? It seems we're always waiting for something before we can begin. We are waiting until we get the degree. We are waiting until the kids leave the nest or until we retire. We are waiting until we know all the steps. We are waiting until we finalize the plan. We are waiting until we feel ready. We are waiting until we feel …
Thou Shalt Go Big or Go Home
[ In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the release of Penguins Can’t Fly this month, this is the second in a series of lessons we can learn from some historical rulebreakers, Wilbur and Orville Wright. ] Go big or go home. It's lionized as the recipe for success; to quit your job, cash in your life savings, and bet the farm. It's also terrible advice. Our movies, history books, and culture are filled with adventurous daredevils who risked it all and overcame long odds. They make for exciting stories that can be told in under two hours, but they are the …
I Got Another Rock
I recently spent time tracing the footsteps of Orville and Wilbur Wright. I had two speaking engagements in North Carolina, less than a week apart. Rather than fly back and forth, Kim and I decided to have me stay down there. She found me a cool place on the Outer Banks, near Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers had their historic first flight. I used the time to think, pray, and make progress on my first-ever children's book about, of all things, a penguin with a dream of flying. It felt perfect, and you can be sure I will be sharing more about my experience in the weeks and months to …
You Can Just Do Things
Brdy is a mountain range located in the Czech Republic that's desperately in need of a vowel. It also contained an area that desperately needed to be restored to its original state as a natural wetland after it had been drained years ago to accommodate a military base. A revitalization project was drafted by environmentalists and funding was secured, but it was mired in red tape, land ownership disputes, and building permit delays. Then, practically overnight, a local beaver colony built the necessary dams in the perfect location without any project documentation and for …
Childhood Leaves Clues
What's she up to today? We've homeschooled our kids since day one. Our style is closer to "unschooling" than the "schooling at home" version that was predominant during the pandemic. As such there is no set curriculum, no set times, and no set workspaces. I love seeing where my youngest daughter Ginny sets up shop for the day and what fruit will come from her labor. Sometimes it's in the maker space downstairs with the band saw from Grandpa. Sometimes it's on the couch in our library. And more times than not, it's at the kitchen table, surrounded by scissors and markers and her trusty …
A Love Letter to My Failures
I was supposed to be the next Charles Schulz or Bill Watterson. Or so I thought. In my senior year in high school, I planned to go to art school and become a famous illustrator. I did go to art school, but along the way, I also fell in love with God, and very shortly thereafter, the girl I would marry. In a sappy attempt to win her heart, I gave her drawings featuring cartoon characters inspired by our childhood photos. Before long, they became stars of a comic strip called Kim & Jason. I was driven to follow in the footsteps of Schulz and Watterson, feeling called to develop it …
Checkmate: What to Do When Your Chessboard Gets Flipped
Candyland is the worst game ever. It's generous to even call it a game, for there is no strategy involved. I still cringe thinking about the times my kids begged to play it. Of course, although it may feel like a modern-day torture device to torment adults, it was designed for children. It introduces the basics of gameplay: following instructions, taking turns, and counting spaces. Eventually, we graduate to a game like checkers, which offers more strategy but is simple enough to pick up in a short amount of time. And then there are games like chess, which are infinitely more …
[Read more...] about Checkmate: What to Do When Your Chessboard Gets Flipped
A Season of Miracles
The grass in our yard is the faded yellow of a brittle old newspaper. Had I not experienced it happen every year for nearly a half-century, I'd think it ludicrous to suggest that it would somehow come back to life. But soon it will be a vibrant green and I will be paying some teenager to drive all over it on a tractor to keep it from growing into a jungle. Spring is a miracle. Unfortunately, like most miracles we encounter in life, we don the proverbial “Been there, seen that, got the t-shirt” t-shirt. I remember planting beans in elementary school, pressing them into black …
From Gold Stars to Gut Checks: Grading What Matters Most
My dad tells a story from his childhood when he received a report card with less than stellar marks. He didn't want to show his mom but knew she'd have to sign it before he returned it to his teacher. So he had the bright idea of placing gold foil stars over the offending grades, explaining they were a new sign of stellar performance. Once the signature was secured, he joyfully skipped to school, chucking the carefully peeled-off stars to the wind. Years later, when cleaning out Grandma's things, we found the evidence: an old brittle report card with a few stars still holding on for dear …
[Read more...] about From Gold Stars to Gut Checks: Grading What Matters Most
The Need for Nipkins
The gauntlet had been thrown down. What choice did I have? We were on a road trip...somewhere. The details don't matter, but I'm pretty sure we were rolling up to Dairy Queen for some Blizzards. Someone in my family, probably my wife, challenged me to request extra "nipkins" at the drive-thru window. Not napkins, NIPkins. And with that, my honor was on the line. I could not allow myself to be shamed in front of my own children by failing to accept this summons. On that day, I am proud to say, I rose to the challenge, growing three feet taller in the eyes of my wife and children …