Healing Hereafter

It's so hard to resist. You put your child to bed...then after a few hours you tiptoe back into his room. Why? Well, because you love him and really do kinda miss him, despite the chaos he spent the last 12 hours creating. But really you go in there because 1) there could be anything happening...

I adamantly maintain that there are two transitions in life that teach you more than any others. The first is having a second child. The second is well, I won't say, because everyone has at least one uniquely educational transition that I don't know about! But back to the first one: the second...

So many students I work with right now are preparing for huge standardized tests like the MCAT, DAT, or even more extensive medical board evaluations! The education of a healthcare worker is not typically known as an easy time of blow-off fun, especially in residency. Unless you enjoy taking 2-day...

Normally a dinner conversation at our house goes something like this: Dad: So Levi, what did you do at recess today today? Levi: Trevor, you're going to get kicked if you stay under the table! Mom: Trevor, back in your chair please. Trevor: AAAAUUUGGGHHHH! Dad: (How did he get under the table...

We're nearing the winter solstice...the longest night. In our post-Covid world, there is more to this than just physical cold and darkness. As we retreat indoors after a long bleak year, there is anxiety, monotony, isolation, sickness, and death. We long for spring, some literally, but almost all...

If you're ever at our house for more than 20 seconds, and you don't look like a Disney princess, you'll probably be tackled by a child leaping from a couch or slightly ajar closet door. For those not in the know, this is the standard way a Dykstra wrestling match begins. One of the boys gets to...

QUIZ TIME! Naw, that's just too mean. Literally nobody wants a flashback to junior high. And since I'm convinced nobody really knows what a Golgi apparatus actually is, there's no point in asking you, right? So why would I subject you to such trauma? Well, we do literally owe our lives to these...

The light came down as I stood on the uphill edge of a holy prayer circle, just to be that much closer to heaven. My thoughts were gathered, my approach was set, and soon it would be my turn to talk to God with the pious precision of a pastor's priest. Or something like that. After just the right...

A couple weeks ago, our family decided to stave off the Covid distancing doldrums with some Dykstra Family Olympics! Ya know, since the real Olympics aren't happening. Our events consisted primarily of doing normal household or outdoor tasks, but without the use of typical tools or appendages. In...

For many folks, life is essentially hell on earth. If you've ever seriously explored the modern-day slavery industry, the lack of clean water and basic healthcare around the globe, or the constant struggles currently related to race and COVID, you at least have an idea how rotten things are for a...