Author Archives: Todd Bolen

2012 Holy Land Calendar

By | September 7, 2011

The theme of the 2012 Holy Land Calendar is “The Galilee of Jesus” and it includes twelve of my favorite photos related to Jesus’s ministry. At the very affordable price of $5, the calendar would make a nice gift for family, friends, pastors, and teachers. You might even want to pick up an extra for… Read More »

September 5

By | September 5, 2011

Lincoln’s wife chased him with a knife. There are lessons here for those with hard marriages. Eugene Merrill gives a brief summary of his experience excavating Khirbet el-Maqatir (Ai?) this summer. Should professors at a Christian college be forced out if they advocate evolution? This question is playing out now at Calvin College. The future… Read More »

Ten Years

By | September 2, 2011

Had he lived, our son would have celebrated his tenth birthday today. September 2, 2001 was a very happy day for us, beginning with a very early morning delivery. It was only the next day that a doctor heard something unusual in his heartbeat and he was airlifted to UCLA. He had a “successful” surgery… Read More »

Reflections on our Vacation: Part Four

By | September 1, 2011

This is the fifth and final question. 5. How can fathers prepare for family vacations? I think it starts with a commitment to take family vacations. A weekend trip to a beach house will afford fewer opportunities for the type of growth and learning than a longer vacation will. Some may feel that a vacation… Read More »

Reflections on our Vacation: Part Three

By | August 31, 2011

This is the third installment of a series of reflections on our wonderful summer vacation. 4. What would you do the same / differently? I would certainly do this trip again, but so much was so clearly owing to the grace of God that simply can’t be prescribed for another. This includes: Visiting our long-time… Read More »

Reflections on our Vacation: Part Two

By | August 29, 2011

I am going to continue reflecting on our family vacation by using the questions posed by my friend. 3. How did you try to blend family, friends, fun, education, and shepherding? Perhaps some people sit down and think out strategies for this but I work rather intuitively in such matters (for good or for ill).… Read More »

Reflections on our Vacation: Part One

By | August 28, 2011

A friend with a young family has written and asked me to go beyond the “what we did today” level given in this series about our family’s vacation. Initially I was resistant but he helped by suggesting five questions. That moves it from the general to the specific and makes the task more appealing. I… Read More »

Home

By | August 26, 2011

We made it home. According to the GPS, we drove 5,214 miles. According to the car’s odometer (which we never turned off), we drove a few more. It was a fantastic trip. Some careful readers know that the whole record of it was delayed by three weeks. My initial thought was to “tweet” the trip… Read More »

Kentucky

By | August 25, 2011

When I was planning this trip, I thought it would be a bit too much to drive 17 hours (plus stops) from Charleston to home. Along the way is Nashville and since no one in our family has spent any time there, I thought it would work out well to cut the driving into two… Read More »

PA, MD, and WV

By | August 24, 2011

After a relaxing morning (are we allowed that on a vacation?), we left our friend Becky’s home and drove through Pennsylvania, the Maryland panhandle, and through the mountains of West Virginia to our hotel in Charleston. It rained a good bit as we drove and though the scenery was interesting, at no point did we… Read More »