Walk With The (Sean) Wise

At the onset of me writing this post, my blog has tracked a total of 5,453 page views. Of these, 1,026 views came in the last month, the majority of the time I have been taking part in my personal Lent Blogging Challenge. The audience for those views was mostly from the United States, but also included people in Russia, Germany, Portugal, France, Poland, Canada, Switzerland, Romania, and Australia. These figures are fascinating to me! I don't share these pieces of information to brag on myself at all. I'm just a poor boy from Michigan who has something to say every once in a while. I've been writing on here mostly to get my thoughts down and hopefully even help someone along the way. Never in my life did I think that anything I ever did would be anywhere near this far-reaching. For those of you who started this 40-day journey with me through this challenge, thank you for sticking with me and encouraging me along the way. You've kept me going and brought me to this p

My favorite church services have always been the ones where multiple congregations get together in the same place. It was my privilege today to play host in Virginia, MN to Salvation Army congregations from Duluth and International Falls, MN and Superior, WI. There's something special about people from different places and circumstances coming together for the purpose of praising God. I see those occasions as glimpses of heaven. God's kingdom includes people from all nations, from all walks of life, who went through the Son to get to the Father. For all the things in the world that try to divide us and keep us apart, isn't it amazing that God has made the ultimate plan for us to be united? So, friends, as much as we can make it happen, let's get together!

She was a beautiful violinist, dedicated to her craft. But nothing could have prepared her for the man who would steal her heart when she accidentally glanced over her stand to the opposite end of the orchestra. A star-studded ensemble highlights this epic tale of forbidden love. Critics say: "It's sure to pluck on all four of your heartstrings." "Adele provides the perfect soundtrack." "The cast should raise their bows and take a bow." Cello from the Other Side -  coming this fall to a theater near you.

My favorite characters in a lot of TV shows and movies are the awkward guys that stumble over their words, are socially awkward, and yet are somehow heroic in the end. Perhaps it's because I identify with their awkwardness. Or perhaps it's because the clean cut, always perfect, never awkward characters seem completely unrealistic to me. Here's to everyone went can't think of what to say, who stutters, who trips over air, and whose bodies shake uncontrollably in uncomfortable circumstances. We are real. We are human. We are awkward.

A house divided cannot stand, But one small fight breaks us again. Our differences could make us strong If we'd just learn to get along. The pettiness of trivial things, As well, the anger that it brings Leave us biting each other's backs, And as we bleed, true love is taxed. We could be winning the same prize, But instead, civil war will rise. We kill our own and set more traps And watch our once great house collapse. A house divided, it will fall, And we, who dropped the final wall Must work together, hand in hand To build on Christ and make it stand.

For those otherwise unaware, the NCAA Men's Basketball Playoffs are currently happening. March Madness is in full swing, and people from sports analysts (not me) to people with zero interest otherwise in college basketball (that would be me) have filled out brackets, trying to guess who will win every game throughout the entire series. It's certainly not an easy thing to guess, and very, very, VERY few people actually end up getting all (or even most) of the picks right along the way. I've developed my own strategy for filling out my bracket every year. Here are the steps. In tribute to my undying love for my home state, if the Indiana Hoosiers are on the bracket, I click them through all the way to winning the championship. I then click through any schools I've started cheering for through my times of moving around, such as the Michigan State Spartans, North Dakota State Bison, and Minnesota Golden Gophers, if they happen to be on the bracket, up until the point

All the snow melted, Then more snow covered the ground. Oh, Minnesota...

My bride smiled lovingly at me as I pulled her into my arms. After sharing a short, fleeting kiss, we shared in a sweet, warm embrace. She leaned lovingly towards my ear, and her angelic voice began to speak. She said, "you can put the white stool back in the bathroom. I'm almost done folding the kids' clothes." Oh, how I love when she whispers those sweet little nothings in my ear!

They told him to keep Jesus out of his speech, But what he does next? Keep your Kleenex in reach! They said she was sick, With what? They couldn't say. The doctor did what?! I've been shaking all day. This kid's ugly face Made others laugh and tease, But what he does next? Now I'm weak in the knees! What really happened? How much news will I miss? I'm still not clicking, Even though you said THIS!

My hair is going gray. I have zits on my forehead. My left eye is lazy. I can't usually breathe through my nose. My teeth aren't perfectly straight. My hands are shaky sometimes. I'm more than just a little overweight. My right foot turns out. I am asymmetrical. I am not perfect. I am flawed. And yet, God chooses to use my weaknesses to show His strength, my insignificance to show His greatness, and my flaws to show His perfection. Everyone has their own flaws. Anyone who thinks they don't deceives themselves and puts a limit on how God can work in and through their lives. Don't be ashamed of these imperfections. Rejoice in the fact that God has chosen them to use, that through them His glory will be made known!

There once was a blogger named Sean, A Lent challenge he did take on, But he's falling behind, For he missed twenty-nine! And alas! That whole day is gone.

Given that the clocks go ahead tonight and I'm already tired, here are some quick thoughts about Daylight Savings Time: I don't mind the time change in November, but the dreaded time change in March is enough for me to really not like DST at all. I find it interesting that DST lasts for almost eight months, but the four months that it's not on is still referred to as "Standard Time," even though it is 50% less common. Indiana didn't observe DST during the years I lived there. It saddens me a little bit that they changed that. I really hope the congregation at my church remembers the time change and comes to service on time tomorrow. That's all I have on the subject tonight. I'm sure I'll be more vocal about my feelings on the matter tomorrow. Fortunately, tomorrow is also my day off of blogging. Don't forget to set your clocks forward!

Relient K was the band that really sparked my love of music. Their second album was packed full of fun, pop culture reference overloaded, punk rock goodness. However, I never would have discovered this band or this album if it wasn't for a song entitled For the Moments I Feel Faint. It became an instant favorite for me when I heard it on the radio, and it was added quickly to the list of songs my friend Chad and I covered when we performed concerts in his storage shed. This song was loaded with thoughts and questions that I was dealing with myself, and honestly, I still deal with those questions from time to time: "Am I at the point of no improvement? What of the death I still dwell in? I try to excel, but I feel no movement; Can I be free of this unreleasable sin?" I've been to that point of feeling stuck, not knowing if I'm growing or getting anywhere in life, spiritually or otherwise. To hear that frustration expressed in a simple melodic song helped m

One thing my wife and I have both enjoyed considerably throughout our relationship is playing board and card games. Our skills in most of them are pretty evenly matched, so it's always fun to play through to the end just to see who will end up winning. Every once in a while, we'll pick up a new game from the store and play through a couple times just to see if we like it. Tonight, we played a game that was regifted to us by the guest speaker at the conference we were at last week. The game is called Cross Cribb, and it's a hybrid board and card game variation of cribbage, one of the first games my wife taught me early in our relationship. It was fun to see what was the same, what was different, and ultimately who came out on top. (My wife totally smoked me.) Life could be really easy yet totally boring if we continually just did things the way we know how. Yes, familiarity is great, but variety is the spice of life! I encourage you to try what I'm learning to love -

Revisiting the past can be a lot of fun. I'm binge watching Fuller House (a total spoof of the original Full House series) while playing the original American version of Pokémon Red on my Nintendo 3DS. My wife and I also wait for new Girl Meets World episodes on Friday nights. It's true that there's nothing new under the sun, but sometimes there's something refreshing about revisiting the past, especially when that past is the 1990s.

Tonight, I'm foregoing my longer post in order to spend time genuinely connecting with my lovely bride. Married guys, I highly advise you to do the same. No other human relationship is as important as that of husband and wife. Take time to truly, deeply, genuinely, and practically love her.

There has always been a part of me that wanted to be the author of a newspaper advice column. I heard about them as a kid, and as kids often do, I thought, yeah, I could do that. I didn't realize at the time that someone actually had to want my advice before I could give it, let alone publish it! Even now, I have a desire to give whatever advice I can to those who want it. However, I've often taken the route of offering advice and solutions when they weren't even requested. I can't help but to try to fix things sometimes, especially when, to me, the solution seems so glaringly obvious! But counseling classes, seven years of marriage, and personal experiences otherwise have all taught me that sometimes (OK, most of the time), people just want someone to listen. In today's society, everybody has an opinion on just about everything, and it's not uncommon for someone to give you their opinion, solution, or "expertise," whether or not what they're t

Seven billion people inhabit this world. You are one person in seven billion. That's a pretty hefty crowd to get lost in! I used to think that I was fairly unique in my appearance and personality. But then, a friend of mine at camp said that I looked and acted like a character in an Adam Sandler movie. This week, even, when I went to pick up my daughter from school, there was a man walking out of the building. He gave me an excited, smiling greeting. I was really excited that someone was actually happy to see me, even though I had no idea who he was! But then he apologized and told me that he was only excited because he thought I was somebody else. It's easy enough to get lost, overlooked, and ignored in a crowd of seven billion. It's even easier when you can be mistaken for someone else. If we don't have a solid sense of who we are, it can be easy as well to not even recognize ourselves. That can be discouraging and disheartening if we allow it to be! But then

Technology is changing. Computers are becoming smaller and more portable. Keyboards are now detachable. In fact, I'm not using a keyboard or typing this post at all. Every word except for a few that were automatically predicted was written in cursive on a tablet.  I've recently seen a lot of articles about school districts no longer teaching or allowing the use of cursive handwriting, often with the belief that it is archaic and unnecessary these days. Not too long ago, I would have agreed with that sentiment. But now, as I sit here writing on my tablet, I realize that getting rid of cursive for the sake of typing is the same kind of thing that made Latin a dead language. Many lessons we could have learned from history are gone forever because they were considered too archaic. It's interesting to me, though, because it seems as though the more advanced our technology becomes, the more we desire for some sense of return to the old methods as well, like me now "wr

Water cleans. Water messes things up. Water cools. Water burns. Water rejuvenates. Water kills. Water sanitizes. Water contaminates. Water has many purposes it can be used for, both good and bad. Water makes up about 60% of your body. Which purposes will you fulfill?

A few days ago, I started reviewing some of the older posts on my blog. This didn't take too long since I haven't been nearly as prolific in my writing as I had intended. One thing that caught me slightly off guard, though, was that there was a post from a couple years ago that had the same title and a very similar premise to a post I wrote just a couple weeks ago. This was not intentional in the least, but it was definitely interesting to see. I'm not the same person I was yesterday (let alone two years ago!), but in some small way, it is still rather refreshing to see that I'm not entirely different either. I'm still me - the spoiler loving geek who wrote two spoiler-themed posts two years apart, a poet, a lyricist, a trombonist, and many other qualities that have stayed constant for many years and hopefully will for many years to come. If you get to know me now, chances are you'll still be able to recognize many of the same qualities in me for many years to

Father of the fatherless, The abandoned, and the lost, Come, gather up Your children That You purchased at high cost. Comfort us as here below We seek to know the reasons For the sorrows, grief, and pain That find us in each season. Children will grow up one day, And friends no longer need us. Even fathers walk away, But You will never leave us. Father of the fatherless, Come and comfort me tonight Let me know through my distress That You will make all things right.