Daniel Rose

When was the last time you denied yourself something? If you're anything like me that's a hard question to answer. I am not in the business of denying myself much of anything. I am able to figure out a reason to get just about anything that I want, when I want it. It doesn't really matter what it is. How about you?

The holiday season brings so many expectations. Expectations of joy, happiness, and fun. Every social media post seems to be a record of someone’s perfect and wonder filled holiday.

Yet, for many the holiday season is a time of pain, sadness, and heartache.

Why do we engage the disciplines of spiritual practice?

I will never forget the experience of going to work for my dad. I was pretty excited because my name was on the building and I assumed that I would get to work some cushy easy job and make the big bucks.

I was very, very wrong.

The fuel for spiritual growth

For the last few years I have had the privilege to help coach a few baseball teams. It has been an amazing experience of learning the game and learning how to help young men develop into the best baseball player that they can be. When a player is coachable, it is amazing to see how they grow and change over the course of the season. When a player is self-motivated, the growth is exponential.

The key to spiritual growth

I am the oldest of three sons and I check just about every box on the “oldest child” list. Chief among them is that if I don't think I can do something perfect right away I usually won't even make the attempt. Do you know what's odd about that? I love to learn. There's something magical in learning something new. What I am coming to realize though is that when I say learn what I mean is gaining new information.

These two things are not equivalent.

A foundational tool for spiritual growth.

What if I told you that the most significant thing that I have learned about consistently growing in my faith is something as simple as a circle?