Tag: Florida

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church cartoons Easter holiday

A Very Different Palm Sunday

Cartoon of two children with palm branches

It’s Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week for Christians across the world. It is a very different Palm Sunday for almost everyone. Frequently, our day would start out with wrangling kids, passing out palm branches and marching them into the sanctuary with a triumphant flair.

Palm Sunday reminds me of what a difference a week makes. Jesus goes from riding into Jerusalem triumphantly as the crowd shouts “Hosanna! which means save now! They are expecting a king which will abolish Roman tyranny and establish a new kingdom.

By the next Sunday, Jesus had been arrested, convicted, crucified, died, and resurrected from the grave. No wonder the disciples’ heads were spinning! A lot can happen in a week.

This Palm Sunday, there won’t be spring breakers going to Florida. There won’t be churches with boys and girls bugging each other with palm branches. What there will be are faithful people gathering together around a computer or television to worship. We will remind each other that things can look bleak, then turn in an instant. We will encourage each other with the hope that things are rarely what they appear and they will be better someday.

We will also implore God to Hosanna!: Save now!

Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord: O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.

Psalm 118:25-26 King James Version (KJV)
Cartoon of two children with palm branches
Categories
motivation productivity Running

Lessons From a Seventeen Mile Florida Run

August sunrise at Juno Beach, Florida
I took this photo when I was into the third mile of my run.

Seventeen miles wasn’t my goal. I was determined to get nineteen miles in. But after seventeen miles, there was a drawbridge between me and my goal. It looked like a mountain. I had been training in Ohio. But now I was in Florida. It was 10:00 AM and 91° Fahrenheit. My water bottles were nearly empty. I decided to call it off and get a ride.

Next month (September 2017), I plan to run The Air Force Marathon in Dayton, Ohio. It will be my first marathon and I have been training for the race. I was determined to keep to my schedule despite the change of locale. 

Three days later, I am thinking about what the run taught me.

Continue reading “Lessons From a Seventeen Mile Florida Run”
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children's ministry cartoons Easter holiday Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine

West Palm, Spring Break, and Palm Sunday

Cartoon of two children with palm branches
Last month, I got to spend spring break in Florida with my wife and daughter. Each time I’ve gone down for spring break, palm branches would be on my mind. For a kid from Indiana, they are exotic. But in Florida, they are as common as Indiana maple leaves. 

When something is common to us, it loses its meaning. To the disciples, that Sunday when Jesus entered Jerusalem could have been just another amazing day with their teacher. They had three years of amazing days. It may have felt common. But soon, they would realize how amazing that event was. In less than a week, the crowd would turn on the one they praised with “Hosannas.”

I drew this in 2010 for Kidzmatter Magazine. 

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Adobe Illustrator cartoon gag cartoon love relationship cartoons single panel cartoon webcomic

Cold as Ice

Cartoon of a marriage counselor, snowman and woman. The snowman says, “Look! I’m willing to compromise, but I just can’t vacation in Florida!”

This dedicated to my snow bunny who would love nothing more than to vacation all winter in Florida. Happy anniversary, Honey. Here’s to many more walks on the beach with you.