There are times that I wish that I didn’t find correlating messages so frequently, because it generally means there is more reading ahead. And as much as I love reading and learning, I had really expected an Expiration Date for this flourishing topic; instead, it keeps going and going like that one battery company’s mascot! …
Category: Habits
Expiration Dates
When teaching about food safety in nutrition, it is not uncommon for me to educate students on the differences between “buy by,” “use by,” or Expiration Dates. Although I do not advise it, the reality is that sometimes I allow these to be mere suggestions, not necessarily a hard line. There are exceptions though, most …
Sober-Minded
Whether shaped by culture or my experience teaching drug education, the first definition that comes to mind when I hear the word sober almost always relates to alcohol or drugs. Because of this, I find myself momentarily distracted when encountering the word in Scripture—particularly in passages like 1 Peter 5:8. Even across translations, the Greek …
What’s Going Right
As I browsed the new books section of the local library, one title immediately caught my attention: What’s Going Right? As someone continually searching for appreciative frameworks, I was intrigued. The author’s name, Paul Conti, seemed familiar, so I picked it up and began reading. Before I even made it out of the introduction, I …
Eyes and Ears
Have you ever paused to consider how often you take your senses for granted? Perhaps it happened during a power outage—one of those moments when darkness becomes more than an inconvenience. The kind of darkness where there is no glow, no flicker, no ambient light at all. The kind where the phrase “you can’t see …
Six Strings
As we consider what it truly means to flourish together, a compelling cultural voice echoes what both Scripture and research have already revealed. In a May 2026 commencement address at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, musician Eric Church described a defining tension of this generation in his speech about the Six Strings …
Table in the Back
Overhearing a colleague on campus the other day, I couldn’t help but laugh. Someone had asked her where she bought her sandwich. Her answer came quickly: “Jeff’s. It’s the Mad Shepp!” The reply was immediate and teasing: “I didn’t know they let women in there.” After the laughter subsided—and the tears from laughing so hard …
For Good
On a drive through south-central Kentucky, it’s not uncommon to lose a radio signal while passing through a holler tucked between rocky cliffs. Yes, I still sometimes listen to that now-archaic format of music sent across the airwaves. And for younger generations, losing a radio signal often means losing a cellphone signal too. For that …
Grit and Grace
As a longtime fan of crime procedurals, I’ve watched more than my fair share of Law & Order (and its many spin‑offs) over the past twenty‑five years. I’ve often found myself quoting that iconic opening narration: “In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups… These are their …
Wasted Sports
I’ve been thinking a lot about aging lately. Not in a dramatic, mid‑life‑crisis sort of way—more like a quiet realization that sneaks up on you when you’re not paying attention. It happens in ordinary moments. A familiar ache in the knee. A student calling the 1990s “the olden days.” Or, most recently, the startling awareness …
Flourishing @ Life 