Author: Jeff Hampton

For Wilshire Baptist Church

It’s official: the big event of my summer isn’t going to happen. Wildfires have burned up tens of thousands of acres at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico and torched the dreams of thousands of Scouts and leaders from coast to coast. The 12-day, 79-mile trek with my nephew and his troop has been on my calendar for more than a year, but with continued fire danger and now the risk of flash floods and mud slides on the newly-barren landscape, Philmont has cancelled all backcountry activities for the summer. But all is not lost. Continue reading “Breaking Out”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

We hung bunting on the front porch railing for the July Fourth holiday. This is the third or fourth year we’ve done that, and it always begins with a question: “Now . . . where did we put the bunting when we took it down last year?” And once we answer that question — in a box in the attic — then comes the second question: “How do we rig this?” Because, while the bunting has grommets, it doesn’t have ties. We’ve had to invent a way to hang it so that it doesn’t bunch up and look like we’re just drying our laundry on the porch railing, and so that it doesn’t flop backward over the railing where it can’t be seen. Continue reading “Red, White and Turquoise”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

“Tell President Trump to mind his own business.”

“See if you can straighten those people out.”

Those were the pre-travel instructions given by my father and LeAnn’s mother, respectively, the day before LeAnn and I left for a week in Washington, D.C. They simply echoed the restlessness and political fatigue of so many of us, and their words sounded like a sort of secular missionary commissioning. Continue reading “Peace, Be Still”