Category: Freedom Tour

“I wonder why it turned out so differently?” I’d just finished telling my story to her students. Tears welled as she described her injury – broken vertebrae, paralysis, halo brace, details eerily reminiscent of my experience – yet this vibrant young woman stood in front of me and pondered our very different paths. I shook […]

Probably not true. Too easy to dismiss folks who don’t jump into an issue like human trafficking or some other big-deal problem with “they don’t care.” Mostly, though, I believe people DO care. When they know about our 22 kids, about what they’ve endured, I have a difficult time believing they really don’t care. I […]

I like metaphors. Imagine your path, everywhere you turn, covered by broken glass. One solution: try to cover the entire world so you can walk in comfort. Or…cover your own feet with tough-soled shoes and move forward.* We can fuss about external circumstances that block our path, circumstances over which we often we have no […]

“Don’t cling to hopes.” My friend Jon wrote that a few days ago as he watched a robin in his backyard. And you’re expecting me to argue…but Jon makes a great point. Our hopes are based on the rear-view-mirror. Back there, I watched someone with a spinal cord injury walk out of the hospital. So I […]

“I’ve got two bikes in my garage.” “Great. You should come and ride with us.” “Problem is, neither of them work.” “Maybe that’s not the problem,” I thought to myself. “Maybe the problem is that they’re hanging in the garage. A bike only ‘works’ if you get it down, pump up the tires, and ride […]

Four friends carried a paralyzed man to see Jesus. They were pretty determined. According to Mark the four friends fought through a large crowd, lugged their friend onto the roof, cut a hole, and lowered him into the room where Jesus was eating dinner. Lots of lessons in this familiar story, many sermons, tons of theology. […]

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 […]

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. […]

“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 […]