I sat alone, outside a coffee shop, stack of books and cold brew at my side and contemplated my last year.

It was a typical setting in an atypical year.

I turned 38 near the beginning of the pandemic last year. And despite working from home, going through the same daily routines, well, a lot has happened.

When people have asked me how I’ve been, my response has basically been the sentiments of, “Surviving, not thriving.”

My work has gone backwards. My spiritual life has grown stagnant. My friendships have been hindered by distancing. I had a relationship end. …

3 years ago, I went through a season of life I’d rather never re-live again. Betrayal, loss, heartache, dreams shattered, unknown future. I even had a couple of teeth explode (not kidding).

Black Lives Matter

Is it OK for White People to Post Photos with African Children to Support Black Lives Matter?

My short answer is, no. No, it is not ok.

It misses the mark entirely.

At the same time, I see others slinging stones at those who do and I don’t think that is the appropriate response either.

My hope is for this article to be a resource for you, a place of learning, just as I am learning each day as well.

I served ten years with an international non-profit focused on orphans and children-at-risk in Zimbabwe. My first trip to Zimbabwe…

If you read yesterday’s post, today, the NBA Draft is a dream.

A childhood dream lived out in the reality of today.

And yet, it’s now much different.

Professionally, I can’t go into details of the operation.

But things aren’t what they once were. It’s a dream that I was blessed to achieve. A dream that lived up to it’s hype. And a dream… that’s not quite the same anymore.

As a young guy on the staff, I would arrive to the office at 6:00am in preparation for the draft and be there till as late as midnight, and love…

Yes, the Super Bowl is tomorrow, not yours, but mine.

I still remember 15 years ago, watching television as the cameras went into the Trail Blazers War Room when they drafted Greg Oden.

I dreamed of being in a room like that, or even being in that specific room. “If only I could be the guy who just brought drinks into the room?” I don’t know why I thought that, but I did. My mind was trying to find any way to get into an NBA Draft War Room.

15 years before that, you could find me with newspapers spread…

Most of my life, I’ve been an extrovert. Not a wild extrovert, just a mild one.

The pandemic made me much more introverted. I spent a lot more time alone, more time on walks, more time reading and writing and contemplating the finer things of life. Maybe I was made to be an ancient Greek stoic. I think I could do that. Sit around the public square, talk philosophy, and drink coffee. They had coffee, right?

I reached out to my friend Jeff today to see if he’d like to get together. We used to be in a small group…

I got a call from a friend who works with the Golden State Warriors.

Several years back, I received his resume. I get 100’s of resumes a year. His stood out amongst all of them. I gave him a call and thought to myself, “He’s a homerun candidate.” I would have hired him right then for our Video Room. But we didn’t have an opening. So I called one of my buddies in Golden State and told him I had a great fit for his Video Room, and they hired him.

He’s still working there and reached out to talk…