Minister Of Mocha

Yesterday I went on an out of town date day with my wife. We started with #CRInside at the prison, then went to see #MikeBirbiglia at a theater in LA, then had dairy free ice cream and gluten/soy/dairy free pastries on Larchmont Street, then finished it off with a nice dinner out (using gift certificates,…

I got blessed with a trip to Disneyland last week. I’m not sure if they still use the catchphrase, but as a kid I remember they always called it “The Happiest Place on Earth”. I was able to spend two full days in the park with three grandsons and two of my daughters and sons-in-law.…

We hosted another #HopeEvent for #PrisonFellowship this weekend, and again, it was a huge success.We had a great speaker lined up for the event, but he was unable to come due to a funeral, so we a had a late replacement speaker. It can be a bit unnerving when things don’t go as planned, especially…

I just got back from hiking in Zion. It was an amazing, beautiful, cold, painful, wonderful, tiring experience! I got a last minute call from my daughter saying they had an extra permit so they invited me to join them. Your MoM is always up for an adventure, so this sounded like a perfect opportunity.…

The weather is changing. That means a lot of things are happening, one of which is birds… Yeah, birds are prepping to migrate. I’m sitting in Starbucks enjoying a hot cup of coffee on a blustery morning. While I sit inside a warm building, I’m watching birds gather together outside in the cold. They are…

It was a big week for your MoM last week. I had a new volunteer join me in ministry with #PrisonFellowship. It was a long process that finds many potential volunteers dropping out. There are lots of hours of online training to go through, then a fingerprinting and interview at the institution. Often times people…

I was recently volunteering at a local prison when they lost track of an inmate. Initially they sent guards around to check in classes to see if the inmate was talking to a teacher. It seems that the search turned out to be fruitless. An hour later another guard came in and told everyone to…

As I drove to the prison for #CRInside yesterday I noticed the glowing light on the dash cluster. “Check Engine”. Uggghhh, I hate that light. Ironically, I was on my way to teach my 12 step program and I was exercising full #denial! I decided to check things out when I got to the prison…

Motel 6 uses the tag line “We’ll leave the light on for you” in their advertising. It’s meant to show that you’re always welcome. As corny as that may sound, it’s an attitude I like to employ with Recovery. Last week my wife and I were sitting at Starbucks having a cup of coffee. There…

I am 51 years old. Let’s be honest here, I’m just a few days past the half way point, so I’m closer to 52. Last night, I had one of those now rare “first time ever” events: I went to a demolition derby at the local fair #AVFair. As I watched in amazed amusement I…