Minister Of Mocha

I have a friend who has spent the past ten years in prison. He only has thirteen more to go. If you got twenty three, your math is correct. Prison sentences are divided into two sections: the base term is served first, then all of the enhancements. Enhancements are additional time added for special circumstances…

Remember that playground wisdom that claimed “sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? Yeah, that’s a load of garbage! Words are powerful. Words can uplift, but they can also destroy. We are emotional beings, so to claim that words won’t hurt us is just nonsense. As a writer and…

A lot of basketball fans are hoping for a return to the court. My friend J is not one of them. I’m sitting outside the courthouse now waiting for his court date. I met J through a friend. J had been over imbibing and caused a bit of a ruckus. It became obvious to J…

Last week I took a trip to the coast to speak on behalf of one of my CR Inside men. He has an opportunity to have his sentence reduced and had asked that I and a few other men speak on his behalf. It was my honor to do so. After we finished at the…

Life is a lot like a road trip: You’ve got the miles before you until they become the miles behind you. I’ve done my fair share of road trips this year. Who knew that a pandemic would provide the right avenue and backdrop for such exploits, but this year I’ve taken two major road trips…

Sometimes things change…no wait, things always change. If we can’t be ready to accept change, we need to be ready to accept frustration. At my church we are undergoing some change as we’ve recently offered our Sr. Pastor position to a new pastor. I have the honor of getting to fly out to Houston this…

Saturday was crazy. My soccer team won a HUGE match against a much better team which sent us to the FA Cup Final in a couple of weeks. I got a podcast recorded. Things were great, until they weren’t. I decided to follow my successes with some work in the newly redecorated office. We had…

A couple of weeks ago we took our grandsons hiking. It was an arduous task for some of us and I was pretty sure that the youngest was going to “swear off” hiking forever. Guess what? We’re going hiking again today! Yes, he wants to go back with us. Now, keep in mind that today’s…

I got up before the rooster this morning. My mom’s car had a safety recall so I drove her to the nearest dealer to have them take a look. The nearest dealer is about 90 miles from us so the 7 am appointment meant an early departure from Ridgecrest, and also from my slumber. As…

How often have I said “I can’t…”? Probably way more than even I think! This weekend we had a lot of time with “I can’t” when we took our grandsons hiking in the Sierras. Our oldest grandson is a kid with boundless energy. His younger brother is a bit more laid back. These character traits…