I’m not trying to brag here, but last night, I struck improv comedy gold. It was the kind of hot streak I imagine professionals in the glittering hotbeds of comedy – you know, like Hollywood or Vegas, or the Big Apple – dream of. The scenario was simple: my character – an affable, but sadly…
Three days after Ash Wednesday, a streak of sorts in our house was broken, as our family made our first trip to the emergency department of the local hospital in response to an injury to my younger son. It was a Saturday night, and the triage team was blessedly compassionate and speedy, so before we…
For as long as there have been children and an interest in pets, there have been requests for pet-ownership. In my house, negotiations are ongoing for a turtle to take up permanent residence in my son’s bedroom. We’ve compromised on a handful of lively – but admittedly, not as personable – fish. Suffice it to…
I caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye as I made my way through the crowd milling about in the children’s Sunday school pickup area. She beelined toward me, auburn ponytail bobbing behind her, a bright smile on her face. It was the 11-year old daughter of a friend, who…
I was not raised as a woods-traipsing boy. Central Florida, where I spent much of my childhood, can give you a great deal on theme park tickets or a killer ocean view, but you’ve got quite a drive ahead of you if you want to find a forest to get lost in. It wasn’t until…
“How are you feeling?” Depending on the chapter in my life, my response to that question has been excitement, anxiety, or downright queasiness. It’s rarely easy to talk about “that emotion thing,” even for those who are the most comfortable in their own skin. The distance between our own hearts and those of others can…
Every year in December, our church presents a unique event called the Live Nativity Hayride for two evenings a couple of weeks before Christmas. Bundled up against the frigid temperatures, guests board a hay wagon and begin a 20-minute ride through seven scenes, as audio narration and live actors tell the story of the Nativity,…
I teach in a small rural school, where the building houses students from grades six through 12. This means on most trips across the building, I end up crossing paths with a nice cross-section of young people, ages 12-18. This sort of developmental juxtaposition provides some interesting food for thought. I see seniors trudging downstairs…
Among the many things I love about Christmas is the way it brings families together. If you’re Way Up North like I am, this coming together is usually a result of a snowstorm-imposed quarantine. In other places, it’s under other, warmer, circumstances. Man, I envy you people … Regardless, the whole houseful-of-folks experience is part…
As milestone birthdays go, turning 38 scarcely qualifies. And yet, as I found myself approaching that signpost a few weeks ago, I began to find more significance than I had anticipated. Turning 38 means two decades since the spring I graduated high school, and the fall I started college. I was 18 all those years…
With our boys spending a week at a summer day camp, my wife and I recently dove into a substantial (for us) home project – installing a new laminate wood floor in our kitchen. Like the true DIY go-getters we are, we did every bit ourselves. And, like the absent-minded handyman that I am, the…
“They also serve who only stand and wait.” With this excerpt from John Milton’s poem “On His Blindness” serving as an epigraph to the opening chapter, The King’s Messenger – the debut novel from writer and Story Warren contributor Carolyn Clare Givens – reveals both the debt it owes to classic literature, and its commitment…
