I was nervous as I entered the building and surveyed the room filled with people chatting and settling in. I was tired and it was only the fifth week of the semester. I teach a 4/4 load and have a three-year-old daughter at home. I am her primary caretaker after half-day preschool. I shrugged off […]
My campus used to publish a newsletter primarily oriented toward faculty and staff to build a professional community on campus. Each issue would usually contain a Campus Profile, which was a written Q&A of the faculty member being profiled, as a way to help others get to know the person behind the name. One of […]
Over the years, I’ve received several invitations to attend our west coast “A Common Call” Christian faculty conference, but for a lot of reasons, I hadn’t made it a priority. I had been part of a G-3 – a “group of three” faculty peer discipleship group – for several years. Our Cal Poly G-3’s meet […]
It was a dark and stormy night. My gumshoes beat out a regular rhythm on the wet pavement, taking me towards a safe haven to the tune of lunch and a Bible study. I pulled my trench coat tighter around me, shrugging back into its roomy shell. My mind whirled faster than a tumbleweed in […]
As I reflect back to when the COVID-19 crisis started, it saddens me to realize that the crisis did NOT have a profound impact on my relationships. Yes, it impacted the group gatherings I enjoyed. I felt intensely the loss of meetings with my church, my small group, the faculty luncheons, and my classroom. But […]
When I was in my late twenties, I thought it would be a good idea to leave a vibrant community of fellow Christians that was built over a period of eight years, and move to Gainesville, Florida to attend graduate school. Career-wise, it was a good decision. However, the first year I was extremely lonely […]
When I was in my late twenties, I thought it would be a good idea to leave a vibrant community of fellow Christians that was built over a period of eight years, and move to Gainesville, Florida to attend graduate school. Career-wise, it was a good decision. However, the first year I was extremely lonely […]
To understand why his wife cried, it might help to know what I have been doing the past couple of years. I retired five years ago from Oklahoma State University after 38 years in academia. The Faculty Commons staff couple that built the vibrant Christian faculty-staff ministry at OSU over a period of 30 years […]
On a recent Friday I found myself unable to finish all my weekly tasks by the end of the workday. That evening, after my wife and kids were in bed, I stayed up to revise papers, answer questions, and schedule meetings for the coming week. I finished at around 2 AM by sending half a […]
When I started teaching at a major research university 10 years ago, I pondered how I might serve the Lord on my campus. As a lecturer, I have teaching assistants who serve as graders, and many of them are international graduate students. Often international students are not invited into American homes during their time in […]
