After 4 and a half years of waiting and praying, God has blessed us with a child. We are officially going public with it – and we have the ultrasound to prove it. Sarah is due in September, and we know that it’s going to be a little girl! Naming will be kept a secret…

Sarah and I have officially started our very first garden – ever. And we have absolutely no idea what we’re doing. I figure we can learn by trial and error and lots of phone calls to Grandma (who has a fabulous garden). I had already cleared an area in the backyard and we have been…

So I successfully re-wired our house (haven’t done the basement or kitchen yet). I put in brand new wires throughout the upstairs and downstairs so all the receptacles are grounded and all the light fixtures are rated for 90 degrees. It was a bear of a project, escpecially working with plaster walls. We have company…

Sarah and I have made it for 6 years of marriage without ever owning a dishwasher. Before that, we were college students that ate at the dining commons and didn’t have to worry about the dishes (except for the times that we each worked in the dishroom, but those tenures were short-lived). So I walked…

I just learned about a neat website that lets you listen to live streaming audio of your local emergency responders. Listen in by clicking on your local area at this website: http://www.scanamerica.us/index.php

Those are the dates of the bloody battle of Gettysburg. On Monday night, I had the privilege of sharing my juggling presentation at First United Methodist Church in Lancaster, PA. On the drive home Tuesday, I took a few hours to stop and look around in Gettysburg, which is only about an hour away from…

Here is one of my favorite lunches. It is quick, easy, simple, and healthy. The Red Pepper Avocado Sandwich. Ingredients (for two sandwiches):1. 1 Avocado2. 1/3 Red Pepper3. pinch of Celtic Sea Salt (to taste)4. 4 slices of Ezekiel bread (or any kind of sliced bread), toasted Make two sandwiches, using half an avocado (sliced),…

“God orders what we cannot do, that we may know what we ought to ask of him.” -Augustine of Hippo

If you’re familiar with the inside back-cover of Consumer Reports, then you know about their ongoing column of the humor and irony often found in a company’s attempt at advertising. For example, I saw a used car dealership ad the other day that boasted, “Brand Spanking Pre-Owned!” vehicles. Now, something about that phrase sounds out…

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible-and achieve it, generation after generation.” – Pearl Buck

A friend of mine and I are reading through Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion this year. I got the book (which is two volumes in one) from my Dad for Christmas. We get together on Wednesday mornings at Starbucks and discuss what we’ve been reading. It looked overwhelming at first, but we use a…

Here is a recipe for Chocolate-Chip cupcakes that is AMAZING. First of all, I used the Nestle-Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe as my base, then I innovated from there. Secondly, there are NO BUTTER cupcakes – and they come out amazing. What do I use instead of butter? Not margarine….not shortening (yuk)….but I use apple…

I agreed to write a review for the brand new “Bible Study Magazine” in exchange for a copy of their inaugural issue. I’m not one for long reviews in prose form, so I will put what I see as pros and cons about the magazine in list format: PROS:1. The articles are both scholarly and…

Have you ever called a customer service number and had that 10-minute conversation with the computer-automated voice? She asks you to input numbers (followed by the “pound” sign, which you always mix up with the “star” key). She also asks you to clearly answer her questions with your audible voice. Have you ever kept hitting…

Today, Sarah and I enthusiastically voted – after standing in line for a mere hour and a half. I’m sure there are plenty of other people in this nation who waited much longer than that today. It was drizzling and a little cold, but it went by fast, especially since we had one another’s company.…

In an article from U.S. News and World Report, “children’s services” was on a short list of industries which are condusive to making millionaires out of those who run such industries (http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/small-business-entrepreneurs/2008/10/07/how-to-make-a-million.html). I work in a field called “children’s ministry,” where the goal is to reach kids with the message of God found in the…

The other night, Sarah came shrieking out of the kitchen, “There are two enormous cockroaches crawling around in the kitchen!” I, superhusband, went to the rescue, slightly aggravated that my wife had gotten so worked up about these two innocent creatures. They were long gone by the time I got to the kitchen, but we…

Announcing the release of the very first DVD from Jesse the Juggler! It is sensibly called “Live Show” and I just did my first run of 50 copies to see how this flies. If it goes over well, I’ll get more duplicated. For now, I’ll take it around with me to my juggling programs and…