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Image by Goran Horvat from Pixabay It seems that you can’t turn on the news anymore without hearing about another shooting or terrorist incident. As parents, we want to protect our children from the evil that is in this world, but they will inevitably be exposed to it one way or another. So what do we tell them? How do we comfort and reassure our children after tragedy?  In March of 2008, I had to tell my fifteen-year-old daughter that her best friend’s family had been murdered. And then later I had to tell her that her best friend was implicated …

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay “Why did God create such a big universe if we’re the only ones in it?” He thought he’d stumped me. It was back in the mid-90s and I was pastoring a small church. Occasionally on Sunday nights I would do a Q&A session titled, “Stump the Pastor.” It was fun, as people would try to come up with the hardest and most challenging Bible or theology questions they could think of. I liked it because it kept me on my toes. It also kept me humble, especially when someone would ask a question I couldn’t …

Image by THE 5TH from Pixabay In 1989, Laurel and I were in Louisiana visiting with a friend we hadn’t seen in years, and he brought up the subject of our daughter’s death two years earlier. “I could never go through what you went through!” he said. His words moved me deeply, but not because it raised memories of our loss. About a year earlier, I had said almost exactly the same thing about someone else. It was almost a year to the day after we’d lost Michelle when I was called to perform the funeral of the six-year-old son of …

Image by Jaime Wiebel from Pixabay This is a bit late for a Fathers Day post, but it’s what is on my heart this week. My dad, John Martin Pence, passed away 5 and a half years ago, on December 17th, 2013. It wasn’t sudden or unexpected; he’d been on hospice care for some time. Nevertheless, it’s not easy to let go, especially when letting go involves watching a long slow decline. But he was 87 years old, and his was a life well lived. When I think of him, I’m reminded of how the Bible speaks of some people …

Recently, through some friends’ gracious gift, Laurel and I got to take a dream trip to Hawaii (Kaua’i). Most of the time, we just chilled; but we did do a little sightseeing. One of our favorite side trips was to the Kiluea Lighthouse. There were quite a few interesting things to see there, but one little boy found something so captivating, that the rest of the surroundings faded into insignificance. His find? A roly-poly (or doodlebug, if you prefer). To that little boy, the tiny bug he held in his hands was the most fascinating, wondrous thing he’d ever seen. …

Am I Making a Difference? Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (Gal. 6:9, NIV). Have you ever wondered if you’re making a difference? Whether it’s as parents or in ministry, we often wonder whether our words and actions make any lasting impact on someone else’s life. Most of the time, I tell people that we have to wait ‘till we get to heaven to find out how God used us. But sometimes, He gives us a tiny …

Laurel and I lost our first child, Michelle Lynn, when she was only a week old. The following article, one of my first published pieces, tells our daughter’s story. A ROAD NOT CHOSEN(Originally published in “Kindred Spirit Magazine”) by James H. Pence Unlike most expectant fathers, I did not look forward to the sonogram. I dreaded it. From the moment Laurel and I walked through the door of the specialist’s office, an uneasy feeling crept through my stomach. The two-hour wait did not ease my fears. Now the doctor’s apparent unwillingness to explain his findings only intensified my anguish. I …