Thirty years ago I confronted an insurmountable obstacle. After spinal surgery and five weeks of recovery, therapists loaded me into my first wheelchair and rolled me into the hospital hallway where they’d placed a 10-foot strip of red tape. My first therapy goal was to push my chair 10 feet. I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t. […]
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Self-Help Or Hope?
Someone asked the other day if RELENTLESS GRACE is a self-help book. I laughed. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the most sensitive response. I knew what he meant, but I chuckled at the notion that I somehow “helped myself” through the darkness of that horrible experience. RELENTLESS GRACE isn’t a story of self-help, it’s a […]
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Only One Way To Sit Still
I cranked my first handcycle 19 years ago – in March, 1999. I’ve told the story before. Two blocks, thirty minutes. After a decade of inactivity, it wasn’t exactly a triumph. I’ve also said God used the handcycle to inspire hope, to help me look forward rather than back. Maybe you wonder how that works. […]
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Couch Courage
BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS! Are you? We’d like to follow this biblical encouragement passed from Moses to Joshua to all of us. Who doesn’t want to be *courageous*? Stand for justice? Save the kid from a burning building? Take a bullet for a friend? Followers of Jesus are courageous…right? “Take courage. I AM. Don’t be […]
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Can We Handle The Truth?
“The truth is more important than the facts.” Frank Lloyd Wright Wait…what? Is this iconic architect offering yet another argument for “alternative facts?” I don’t think so. I can’t imagine fact-free architecture. Buildings are constrained by science, gravity doesn’t care whether you believe it. Ignoring inconvenient facts doesn’t stop the structure from collapsing. Frank Lloyd […]
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Are The Times A-Changin?
“Those kids are INCREDIBLE!” Maybe you’re heard a similar sentiment lately. Maybe you’re among those who are surprised as passionate, articulate young people step forward following another tragedy to claim #neveragain. We’ve heard all about how these spoiled, entitled millennials with noses buried in their phones would be the end of civilization. Sort of like […]
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When You Need A Shepherd
Grief’s a funny thing. Not funny/haha but funny/ironic. Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross demonstrated that grief progresses through similar stages across cultures, but no two individuals navigate their grief in precisely the same manner. It’s a completely universal human experience, yet we each experience it in our own unique manner. In a recent memorial service the pastor […]
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About Finger Pointing
I listened – briefly – to a simplistic argument in which a Missouri politician attempts to assign blame for human trafficking. Leaving aside the goofy specifics, I’m struck by the focus on fault-finding. It’s like we believe we’ve solved a problem by figuring out who’s at fault. Blaming, finger-pointing, asking WHY? … all ways for […]
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A Tale Of Two Tests
Psych 101, Iowa State University, Fall 1969. Maybe 200-300 students in a creaky old lecture hall, professor droning, me taking notes with one question in mind: Will this be on the test? Came home (yes, I lived at home) from my very first college midterm exam and told my mom I was going to flunk […]
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Adventure Or Disaster?
It happened in 2013, and it’s still one of my favorite FREEDOM TOUR stories. I did my best to research a route through the south Denver area, even called a local bike shop. The guy assured me the “Outlaw Trail” was great. So imagine the surprise when the trail went from paved to dirt to […]
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On Your Mark…!
It’s time to begin. When the starter cries, “On your mark!” the runners know it’s time. Time to focus. Time to separate competitors from bystanders, those who think about running from those who run. “On your mark!” means it’s time to step up to the line. January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. For the FREEDOM […]
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Marking The Trail
How did the story go from there to here? My friend asked about RELENTLESS GRACE. She wanted to understand the process that led from injury to despair to depression to 1500-mile bike ride to FREEDOM TOUR. It’s a story I’ve told countless times, but on this occasion I used a brand new description, one that […]
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