A couple years ago, my wife Carla and I hosted a guest from out of town on behalf of the church. We went out for a drink to get to know each other a little better and the conversation went to, “where did you go to college?” I shared that I went to Augsburg College in Minneapolis. Her response was, “that place is expensive!” I didn’t want to come across as a rich kid who was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, so I explained, “well, I won a scholarship there that paid for most of my expenses, so I couldn’t refuse.” Her response was, “Oh, white privilege at its best.” To put it mildly, that upset me. I remember thinking, “I worked hard throughout high school… I earned that scholarship!” She dropped it, but God has kept that accusation tucked tightly into the back of my head....

Many thanks for your support of First Teen Clothes Closet. Getting the word out about us through agency visits, posters and leaflets has brought in more teens in the past month! Watch for some local news articles and a television interview later this summer....

I just spent a wonderful Father’s Day at the home of my brother Tom and his wife. Two of their adult children were there as well as my dad, mom and my sister. While I always enjoy coming together with my family, usually I leave the gathering thinking it was nice to see everyone, but I really don’t have a good feel for how things are going in their lives. You see, I have five brothers and one sister and when the whole family gets together, there are 43 of us. That’s a lot of people to talk to, it’s kind of loud and if it’s Christmas, there are gifts to open too. It’s pretty tough to have a meaningful conversation that digs deep and helps to get to know each other better....