Wildflowers, Broken Dreams and Miracle Chairs

Nathan SmithFaith, Personal Stories, Thought Provoking

It’s Spring and the sound of the lawn mower seems to reverberate all day off the houses in the neighborhood.  Everyone is coming out of hibernation and working in the flower beds and trying to put their best foot forward.  There’s much to be said for intentional pruning and development.  I believe it is key to living a life worth …

Out of Order: The Right Thing in The Wrong Place

Nathan SmithChristian Maturity, Faith, Life Skills

When something is not working properly it is said to be ‘Out of Order’. We tend to think of that as being synonymous with ‘broken’. The irony is, nothing may be physically broken at all?! All the essential pieces may be fully functional and yet the machine isn’t operating properly. Often times, the issue isn’t that the essential pieces are …

My Commentary On Hipster Culture

Nathan SmithFamily, Thought Provoking

Fashion and art, much like politics, are almost always downstream of culture. They only reflect the attitudes and worldview of the population, they don’t create those attitudes initially.  It’s how style becomes trendy or how a public figure becomes popular; they aren’t saying something new, they’re putting words and giving expression to the prevailing feelings and spirit of the age. …

Going Backwards Is Moving You Forward

Nathan SmithChristian Maturity, Faith, Personal Stories, Thought Provoking

God has been talking to me about slingshots and rubber bands lately. I realize that may not seem like something God would really spend a lot of time talking about with people, but He knows what reaches me. When I was a little boy I had many slingshots.  Some I bought.  Some I made.  Basically every ‘Y’ shaped stick I …

The Invisible Value of Maintenance Mode

Nathan SmithChristian Maturity, Faith, Life Skills

Maintenance.  Maintenance Mode.  Maintenance Man.  Maintaining the ‘status quo’.  There is simply zero inspiration exuding from the idea of maintaining. No one wants to simply maintain their current income; they want a raise.  No one wants to wake up Christmas morning and hear ‘this year we get the joy of just keeping everything we already have!  Nothing new for you …