Preparing for marriage begins long before the proposal. I glimpsed this recently when I had the opportunity to offer words to a thirteen-year-old during a rite of passage ceremony. While the boy currently cares more for World of Warcraft, burps and farts, and squirrel impersonations, his father wisely knew that this would be a moment…
I got lost on my first hike up the tallest mountain in the Northeastern United States. While I knew that “up” was always the right direction, at some point on the trail I took a wrong turn. I expected to meander along quaint streams in a flower-filled valley. Instead I climbed vertical rocks on all…
Black stains adorned my hands as I typed. No metaphor there. I pulled into Panera on my way to a graduate counseling class that covered the life cycle of marriage. I sat down with my coffee and pulled out my journal for a rare forty-five uninterrupted minutes. Did I mention that snowflakes fell softly on…
