From my heart...

fa·ther noun 1.  a male parent 2.  a father-in-law, adoptive father, or stepfather 3.  any make ancestor, especially the founder of a race, family, or line; progenitor 4.  a man who exercises paternal care over other persons; paternal protector or provider 5.  a person who has originated or established something:  the founding fathers.  Father's Day is celebrated in 48 nations around the world.   In the United States, we celebrate on the third Sunday in June, which happens to be today.   There was a time when the idea of a father was pretty straightforward:  the man who, with your mother, conceived you and then after your birth raised you to adulthood.  We know that in today's world that is certainly not always the case.   Many of you know my story, perhaps a few do not.  I was born the day after my mom's 17th birthday.   When I was not quite 3 years old, my mom married Dave Sexton, so from my very ea...

My favorite Christian artist is Brandon Heath. I have all his CDs, and more often than not he's who I'm listening to in the car.  My kids love the music, but they listen very closely to the lyrics and are always asking me questions about the meaning behind the lyrics.  One such question came about Heath's song song "The One" which includes these lyrics:  When I think of what could be if we let our hearts believe that it takes just one, just one could turn this all around.  And if we're living history, how will they think of you and me if it takes just one, just one.  What if I'm the one? Brandon Heath I explained to the kids that the song is about how even one person can make a difference in the world.  Caleb immediately exclaimed, "Even a KID could change the world!"   Oh how I love that optimism and simple faith of a child.     That conversation brought to mind a man who lived 1600 years ago, a simple man, but one whose action...

Napoleon Bonaparte was 34 years old when he was crowned Emperor of the French in 1804.  In what became known as the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815), he conquered most of Europe.  By the time of his final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, well over 5 million soldiers and civilians had died in the conflicts.   It is during his reign a story has been passed down to us.  Whether it's true or not is up to debate, but the story goes like this: Napoleon Bonaparte A mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son. The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death as the penalty for his crimes.   "But I don't ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy."     "But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied.   "Sir," the woman cried, "If he deserved it, it wouldn't be mercy.   And so I ask for mercy."  "Well, the...

One of the most fascinating (and scary) things about being a dad is seeing the ways in which our children are (or are not) like us.  All of three of my children seem to have inherited their mom and dad's outgoing personalities.  Overall, however, my daughter Rachel is the most like me.   She shares my love for history, loves to read and is way ahead of her grade level in reading, and loves to learn.   Our biggest difference seems to be how we handle our emotions.  I tend to internalize everything, and only let it out when I can't contain anymore.  With Rachel, one never has to wonder what she's thinking, whether she's sad, hurting, angry, etc. One of the "manifestations" of her emotions happened a few weeks ago before a soccer game.  It was the third game of the season, and when the time came to get her dressed and ready for the game, that's when it happened. First, some background.  Rachel is going to be eight years old in a few wee...

This is a story I've told at concerts many times, but it's worth sharing through this blog as well. Horatio Gates Spafford was a prominent lawyer in Chicago in the years during and after the Civil War.  He was also well known as a supporter and friend of Christian Evangelist D.L. Moody.   Horatio and his wife, Anna were living the American dream:  wealth and prosperity, part of a growing city,  and a growing family.  Before long they had a son and four young daughters.   However, it wasn't long before things went bad, and then went from bad to worse. Horatio Gates Spafford In 1870, Horatio and Anna's only son died of pneumonia at the age of four.  As a dad of three kids, I cannot even wrap my mind around the grief that must have been theirs.  The next spring, they invested much of their wealth in real estate on the north side of the growing city of Chicago.  Just a few months later, in October, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed al...

Since I first started working on my family tree, I'd always known that my great grandfather Thomas Whittaker had a nephew who was killed in World War II.  Harry Sylvester Wilson was born August 27, 1924 in Niles, the son of Earl an Ida Whittaker Wilson.  He was the second of five sons and a daughter born into the family. In February of 1943, Harry joined the Army as part of E Company, 114th Infantry Regiment.  The 114th was a part of the 44th Infantry Division.  After training in Louisiana and Kansas, the unit was shipped to Massachusetts before they went overseas and entered France in the summer of 1944.  They saw combat for the first time in October of that year.  They fought in numerous engagements and on November 17, 1944 liberated the town of Avricourt, France.  It was on that date, according to military records, that Pvt. Wilson was killed in action.  He was just twenty years old. E Company, 114th Infantry Regiment before deploying ove...

Country music superstar and Wheeling, WV native Brad Paisley has a song that is one of my absolute favorites.  It's called Letter to Me , and it's the words he wishes he could speak to his seventeen-year-old self.   For those of you not familiar with the song, here are the lyrics, or you can click here for the video. If I could write a letter to me and send it back in time to myself at seventeen, First I'd prove it's me by saying, look under your bed, there's a Skoal can and a Playboy no one else would know you hid. And then I'd say, I know it's tough when you break up after seven months. And yeah I know you really liked her and it just don't seem fair, but all I can say is pain like that is fast, and it's rare. And oh, you got so much going for you, going right.  But I know at seventeen it's hard to see past Friday night.  But you'll make it through this and you'll see, you're still around to write this letter to me. At the...