


A Tribute to My Dad, Ronnie Cox (1948-2023)
I loved my Dad. He passed away just a week ago (June 2, 2023) at the age of 74, peacefully in his sleep. My earliest memories of him involve his two arms. When he was just four years old, he broke his left arm, which wound up in a cast. When the doctor removed the...
13 Words from a Father to His Son on His 13th Birthday
Sam, I know I say this often, but I’ll keep saying it because I want you to keep believing it. I’m so glad I get to call you my son! I’m pleased with you. I’m proud of you. You add joy to my life every single day! You’re the kid for whom...
Why 2022 Was the Year of My UNdoing (and Why I Want More Of It in 2023)
Let me backtrack just a bit. One would think 2020 might have been the year of my undoing. There was the pandemic and all of the ways it uprooted life for all of us and, as church leaders, challenged everything we knew about how to carry out Christian ministry...
How O'Malley Became a Very Good Father
I’m a sucker for vintage Disney stories. I have a collection of old Disney story books from my childhood and often read them to my boys. Tonight we chose The Aristocats, and I was moved by the final page. I’ve seen the movie and read the story dozens of times in my...
Five Factors God Used to Simplify My Complicated Marriage
The only way to avoid the complications of relationships is to have none. We human beings need each other, so God created us with the capacity to love, to have friends, to get married, and to live in community with each other. But, as Facebook would attest, many of us...
What's Wrong with That Weird, Shy, Introverted Kid?
In the first grade, I was treated as disobedient because I was extremely shy, afraid to ask for help, and struggled with my work because of it. I’m 38 years old and still grit my teeth a little bit when I remember the teacher (who had a reputation for being one...
13 Words from a Father to His Daughter on Her 13th Birthday
Ella, you’re amazing! And you’re supposed to stay my little girl forever. You’ve grown up so much already and I’m tearing up in Starbuck’s as I write this just thinking about it. I hope it’s okay with you that this is public. I just...
18 Lessons from 18 Years of Marriage
On June 14, 1997, I married Angie Kirk, the most amazing woman on earth! The last eighteen years have been an adventure. We left home to go to college together and got engaged a little over a month into our freshmen year. That next spring I started pastoring a small...