Stories from the ridgeline
Reflections on fatherhood, faith, healing, leadership, adventure, and the spaces between expectation and reality.
October 3, 2026
Some days, I feel like a crash test dummy. Hit the wall. Reset. Another impact. Another lesson. Another person telling me that someday I’ll understand why I had to go through it. There is an idea I have heard throughout most of my life in the church. To be fair, I have heard versions of […]
October 3, 2026
A few summers ago, I visited Banff National Park and stood at the water’s edge of Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Frigid, teal water stretched out beneath towering mountains. Both lakes draw water from glacial melt, and standing beside them, I found the beauty breathtaking. Magnificent. But what stayed with me was the thought of […]
August 24, 2026
The weeds had not taken over the parking lot all at once. They arrived quietly; one seed carried by the wind, one green stem pushing through a hairline crack, one neglected edge stretching a little farther across the pavement. No single plant looked powerful enough to reclaim an entire parking lot. Yet, given enough time […]
August 20, 2026
Somewhere along ten miles of trail, a conversation about faith wandered into deeper country. I don’t remember exactly what led us there. That’s often how the most honest conversations happen on a trail. You start by talking about the weather, the climb ahead, the view through the trees, or how many miles remain. Then, somewhere […]
February 2, 2026
Some days, when someone tells me they want me to be happy, I have to pause. Not because I don’t appreciate the sentiment, but because the word doesn’t quite fit the terrain I’m walking. Happiness feels like a summit word.Joy, maybe.Relief, perhaps. But happiness assumes ease, or at least resolution. There are seasons of life; […]
August 17, 2025
Holding the Map When you hike with someone who’s carrying the only map, you follow their lead. You watch the trail they choose, the pace they set, the way they decide whether to push forward or pause. In relationships, many women hold a similar kind of influence in the emotional landscapes of the men they […]
August 13, 2025
When the Bikes Vanished: There was a time when a pile of bikes at someone’s house meant the neighborhood had awoken. That was our trailhead: pickup games, scraped knees on driveways, and the steady hum of collective mischief. We climbed the day together, step by sunlit step. But those piles have disappeared. Now, for many […]
August 11, 2025
The Search for Something Sacred When I was in high school, I was a Boy Scout. One summer at camp, a few friends and I decided we were going to do something bold. Something that felt half adventurous and half forbidden. We were going to try and find an old Indian burial ground. It was […]
August 2, 2025
Let Curiosity Lead the Way Some birthdays are like ridgeline pauses: quiet, reflective, a moment to take in the view. Others feel like full-on jungle treks: chaotic, electric, and alive with riddles you never saw coming. This year? It was the jungle. After a slow morning with Gracie wandering the Denver Art Museum, where brushstrokes […]
July 31, 2025
Some birthdays pass like cairns on the trail, small markers on the long road of life. Not ignored, but not celebrated either. For years, mine have felt that way. Just another step forward, another page turned. But this year was different. This year, I exhaled. We were in Colorado, the place where my soul stretches […]
