If you are reading this on November 3, 2016, 306 days have flown by this year. (If not, click here to see how many days that have gone by this year.) 306 days!! That is 7,344 hours that have been consumed by a myriad of activities. Some were of high importance and some that were dismissed with reckless abandon. I am sure that there is a percentage of those hours that you can recount in vivid details, articulating exactly what you did and the exact outcome. Probably, if I can

Have you ever encountered a moment with God where it feels like he’s playing the role of an Illusionist – performing a well-rehearsed sleight of hand trick? I have. Especially the last two months. The meandering conversation between God and me, over the past two months, has twisted, turned, moved, and paused. Lengthy bike rides have been filled with a mix of non-stop chatter and miles of silence. Early morning quiet, holding a cup of coffee (Really good coffee like Intelligen

Darkness was quickly consuming the light as we stood, eyes fixated on the situation we had somewhat intentionally gotten ourselves into. The Jeep Rubicon that we rented begged us, no pleaded for us to take it off-roading.  So we obliged her with an afternoon of impulse infused off-road adventure. And then it happened. Stuck.  Not in the over dramatic, inconvenient and frustrating type of way. We were stuck like Winnie the Pooh’s head in a jar of Honey type of stuck. Did we br

There is something exhilarating, and at the same time, overwhelming about staring at a blank page.  The cursor blinks enticing – no begging – possibly even demanding you to write. Ideas swarm in your mind that engages your soul causing your heart to quicken in step. The cursor blinks. Your eyes, fixated on the screen, suddenly catches a glimpse of the faint outline of your silhouette.  Through the haze of possibilities and ideas, you can see what might emerge when focused eff

The sun was just climbing over the mountain ridge as I carried my bike up four small steps. I breathed in deep as the cool morning air raced into my lungs.  The birds were breaking out in a melodic conversation of anticipation as a new day was emerging. I stretched my hands up in the air over my head and then reached to the ground. My muscles revolted in the abrupt call to action. Excitement emerged as I thought about the new route that I mapped out the night before. Straddli

{On August 20, 2014 I posted this on Facebook.} Yesterday my best friend died. I have had plenty of time to beg, plead, and hope for God’s healing hand to rest upon my dad. But now it is Job’s words that rests upon my lips: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”So now it is time to CELEBRATE. Let us celebrate a man who honored, worshipped, and trusted God. Let us celebrate a Christ-follower who boldly shared his faith. Let us celebra

Dad sat at the edge of the couch with his eyes tightly closed. He was using what little energy he had just to keep his frail, 135 pound body, upright.  I wrapped my arms around the sides of his chest, my fingers sinking deep between the ridges of his rib cage. Tears consumed my ability to see. Just over 365 days ago dad was a healthy, robust, 69-year-old man. Life was surging through his veins as he looked forward to his next decade of life.  He and mom were planning new adve

It was December 2009.  Kim and I were walking through Union Square after a magical night of Broadway and decadent chocolate consumption. Kim looked at me and asked a question that caught me completely off guard. “Would you ever want to plant a church in NYC?” Inside my chest screamed, “YES!” But I said, “Yeah, if we were younger that would be fun.”  Why that response? Was it fear? Probably. Was it a timing issue? Probably. Was it the fact that we were at a great church (Centr

Today is March 25th. For most of you, today will routinely tick by. It will be another day of overcommitted schedules, complex decision making, and trying to discover the answer to the oppressive and reoccurring question, “What’s for dinner?” For Kim and me, March 25th is a much different day. Caden, our son, would have turned 11 today.  (If you are not familiar with our story, you can watch this short six-minute video here.) As I was praying this morning, God kept shoving in

I am not sure if you are aware of this, but Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. And for millions of people, today is filled with chaotic shopping, last-minute phone calls ordering flowers, searching for that perfect card from depleted card racks, and searching for a restaurant that still has dinner reservation availability. For Kim and me, it will be a boring, mundane, and normal day.  Why? We take Valentine’s Day off.  It is a decision that we made over sixteen years ago.  Why? I c

It was 1989, my sophomore year of high school was ending, and the movie Dead Poets Society was released. This movie quickly entered into my top 5 list and has never left. Dead Poets Society is a story of loss and hope. It is a story of relational conflict, unbearable expectations, and the chaotic nature of approaching adulthood. It is a story that stirs introspection and causes you to not only reflect on your life, but shoves your eyes into the future. One of the moments that

The Journey: Tomorrow Kim and I will be married 16 years. Where has time gone? I also realized today that if you take our 16 years of marriage and add to it the 4 1/2 years that we dated, we have been together more than twenty years. That means we have been together over half the time we have been alive. We have had mountain top experiences together and we have had some very dark moments. There has been times where life was stagnant, moving at mundane speeds. Through it all,

Have you ever been at a place in life where you know change is on the horizon? You can sense there is going to be a shift in the direction of your life. You absolutely – positively know that God is moving in you. You desperately want to follow His will for your life. You pray. You seek wisdom from those who pray. You do all the “things” that you think you should do to gain clarity on the direction you think you might should go in (did that make sense?). . .and you get to an i

Jud Wilhite kicked off a new series this weekend at Central Christian Church titled, TORN.  The focus of this series is the book of Job.  Several weeks ago Kim and I had the opportunity to share our story.  Our hope and prayer is that our story, will help others in their life journey. Trethewey Life Story. from David Tate on Vimeo. God gives and takes away. One couple shares about the blessings and the struggles in their journey. #death #grief #celebration #life #Trethewey