As you’ve probably noticed, many of these reflections are simply me writing about whatever strikes me during prayer or Scripture reading. That’s the beauty of reading the Word—it always speaks. Like watching baseball, no matter how long you’ve been at it, there’s always something new to notice.
If you're struggling with prayer, I recommend starting there. Just open the Bible. Read until something catches your attention—and then sit with it. Let it speak.
That’s what happened to me recently as I returned to the Gospel of Luke.
When the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to announce the birth of his son, John, he says this:
“He (John) will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children, and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”
—Luke 1:17
That line stopped me: “To turn the hearts of fathers toward children.”
I’m sure someone wiser could unpack that more theologically—but I just sat with it.
What came to mind was how quickly time passes. It’s so easy to get caught up in work, in providing, in building a life. We’re not doing anything wrong—it’s part of our vocation as fathers and parents. We’re doing our best to love through labor.
But then I pull out our family photo albums (yes, we still have the actual printed kind), and I see the passage of time in a flash. The baby chubby cheeks that are now preteen faces. The strollers that became bikes. And—somehow—I’m still wearing the same shirt I had on ten years ago.
That verse reminds me: when we turn our hearts to our children, we see what really matters.
Because if we’re not careful, if we look away too long—we miss it. We miss the moment. And the moment is where the grace is.
John the Baptist came to prepare hearts—to soften them, reorient them, and make space for the Lord to enter. And maybe one of the first places that reorientation begins... is right at home.