The Illinois 14th Congressional District is reliably red most years, especially after redistricting in 2011 that countered its few urban neighborhoods with vast swathes of conservative, white, suburban and rural territory across 7 counties. The 14th is the district of disgraced and imprisoned former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and many here still pine […]

We have been witness in the past three weeks to a national drama over the importance we place on personal character and what might charitably be called youthful indiscretion as Senate politicians consider consenting to the president’s nominee for Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. Three women made credible allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh and other

The prisms we use to view the world greatly frame what we actually see. This fact was brought home to me in crushing fulness through just one sentence, spoken once by one man.Throughout my life, I have been fascinated by and attracted to Europe. Listening to my great-grandfather and people in my hometown speak German

Claire, our youngest child, has been feeling called to serve others. She has been serving guests at Walt Disney World, her dream employer, for the past year since graduating from college, yet she feels that the time is right for her to serve in a more meaningful way. So she applied for, and was accepted

Chefs often say we eat first with our eyes, meaning that how a dish looks influences our enjoyment of it. I am redefining that phrase.I used to do most of the cooking for my family when I wasn’t traveling for work. It was a joy for me, a creative outlet and, most importantly, a way

Thursday, February 15, 2018 the U. S. House of Representatives passed the #ADA Education and Reform Act. This Act, likely to make it into law, requires people who are denied access to places of business to A) write the property owner within five days to notify the owner of the violation, then B) wait 6

Indentured service and separate but equal systems haven’t actually gone out of fashion. They have just been regifted to a different group of minorities. One of the richest people in the country (allegedly) convened his Sessions at the Department of Justice to, in his best Alabaman, “I Declare” that Abbie Normal non-beautiful “employees” can be

My newest book is available on Amazon, in book and Kindle forms!Many readers of Shells: Sustained by Grace Within the Tempest asked if some chapters were grounded in specific Biblical passages. This, along with hearing from readers already using Shells in their Christian study groups, formed the impetus behind this companion collection of 25 Bible

It was mere minutes before closing time. We needed to get a jump on the crowd to get back to the hostel before lockup time. Given my beer consumption and the long train trip back to the hostel, I made my companions wait for a time while I went to relieve myself. Then time stopped. The