About

 

Shanks2a     Rich Mullins, in one of his lesser-known songs, once wrote, “I am a good mid-western boy: I give an honest day’s work if I can get it.” I can make the same boast, almost. I am a mid-western boy, but with some strong Southern influences, for better or worse. I was born and bred in Ohio before spending my formative years in central Virginia and North Carolina. And now, as of October 2017, I am back in the Buckeye state. I pastor a small congregation in the Gates Mills suburb of Cleveland, rooting cheerfully for the Cavs and the Tribe, and trying to develop an appreciation for the glorious disaster that is the Browns.

     My lovely wife Laura and I have been married for 15 years and have four children: Julienne (9), Evangeline (7), Ransom (5), and Sophia (2). We also tolerate (with varying degrees of patience) an infuriatingly attentive Australian Shepherd dog, named Bear.

     At times, my pastoral and familial roles boil over into observations that necessitate some kind of release valve. The result is the on-again/off-again maintenance of this site, as well as occasional publications of various kinds elsewhere.

     If you have observations of your own as a result of what you’ve read here, drop me a note. Otherwise (as I read once but have never had the social confidence to propose in a formal toast of my own):

“If it’s half as good as the half we’ve seen, here’s Hail! to the rest of the road.”