I love the band Jars of Clay. My aunt gave me their album If I Left The Zoo when it came out, but I didn’t really listen to it for a couple years. When I did actually listen to it, I loved it. The melodies are catchy, and it was different from any other Christian band I had listened to before. I have listened to everything they’ve done since…

I was going to write about an elaborate metaphor that included me cutting my finger. Instead, I decided to express gratitude to everyone in this amazing community and tell the villagers who I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to much a little bit about me. I have probably the most common name in the USA. John Henry Smith. I was born in Amarillo, TX and grew up on…

The summer of my first grade year, my family moved from Tucson Arizona to Miami Arizona. Miami is small mining town on your way to Roosevelt Lake. Often its residents just refer to it as the arm pit of Arizona, or maybe that’s just the people who lived there once and have managed to escape the small town. For me, living in Miami (or as my little brother used…

My wife is awesome. Friends of mine on Facebook would know that because I often post things that reveal her awesomeness. Sometimes those things are pointing out the funny and quirky things that she does or says. Sometimes those things show the beautiful ways she engages her family and friends. What you may not know is how much she means to me. What you may not know is how…

"My wife told me to stop acting like a flamingo. - So I had to put my foot down." Ryan, Corey, Keith and I went backpacking for 3 days and 2 nights. We enjoyed letting our hair down and being a bunch of goofballs :) I am glad that I didn't get hurt on an old piece of metal that I fell near. I am thankful for the trip…

Old deceptions Whisper and roar across generations and milliseconds; Invisibly thread through heritage and culture; Shrewdly justify judgments and convictions; Subtly inform addictions and missions. Rabbi of lies spins intricate narrative so visceral; How can reality bear out anything else? Words of life Subversively battle power with enduring love and self-sacrifice; Delicately woo from compulsive ruts with created beauty and reflected glory; Gently conquer shame and contempt with grace…

This Friday, October 11, I'll find out whether or not I passed the Arizona Bar Exam. I'll get to scan the alphabetized list of every name of every person who got the required score and if I see my name, I can become an attorney. It's a moment that is the culmination of years of work and pain. The stress of studying for the bar was intense and real.…

So, I was working behind the soundboard, not really paying attention apparently ... This songs starts out with a beautiful guitar beat that I got lost in - I still get lost in it - as I just enjoy it so much. As I was enjoying this guitar beat in the original recording, after the song started and was well underway, I noticed Eric walk over and slide microphone…

Ok some roughly formulated thoughts not too ‘churched up’ as reuben would say: I’ve been thinking a lot lately what it means for the Village to be accessible and inclusive even as we grow. For years, many Village parties or events included a church wide invite. Baby showers were often co-Ed and an opportunity to have everyone come together. Not everything was all inclusive, but many things were. Lately,…

Almost a year ago, I crafted a video to go along with the Books of the Bible song that Susan Cepin recorded. As new Villagers, Eric asked me to create a video for the kid vespers. This is the first video that I made for the Village. I started to put this video together at my first art night at the Village and then I continued to finish it…

What once was verdant green turns fiery orange, crimson red, then slowly browns to death, unties from living bonds, lets go sustaining branches drifts softly to the ground, lies quiet in the darkened mud among those gone before.  All is lost in crumpled mire.  Blades and veins and midribs disappear amid the roots, degrade, decline, decay.  Soon they are no more, just dirt returning to the dirt.   No…

He wasn’t my favorite teacher. He was intimidating and a tough grader. For a teenager with the kind of learning disabilities that make it difficult to get assignments done, he was more an arch nemesis than a friend. I was also rather lazy and preferred basketball to conjugating verbs.  I’d heard crazy stories about him from my older sister. She told of how he prowled the aisles between the…

Sometimes it’s easy to be invisible. To do work behind the scenes and leave no trace for others to discover your mistakes or imperfections. I was part of a leadership team at a very large church for several years. I successfully hid flaws, fears, sin, and secrets behind a façade of servitude and performance. I think that the most crowded places are the easiest to operate in invisibility… and…

I love the village. I love how we come together as a community who supports and loves and cares for one another. I love how we ask each other about our lives; the good the bad, the hard....it’s so refreshing still after 14 years to be apart of this kind of authenticity. It’s so rich, so scary and I’m so grateful. As our family enters into a season of…

Micah 5:2 . . . But you, Bethlehem of Ephrathah, little among the clans of Judah-from you shall come forth the one who is to rule in Israel. When Jesus was born, Augustus had been in power for 25 years. He was, in that moment in time, King of kings - he ruled from Gibraltar to Jerusalem and from Britain to the Black Sea. He brought peace to the…

I am going to try to not spoil anything here... Last week I was in Michigan on a family trip. It was a great time. My kids got time with their grandpa who was kind and affectionate and generous, they got time in the cool Michigan air, the cold lake water, the warm sand. But you know that feeling of "being on vacation" and then "needing a vacation from…