Author: Jeff Hampton

For Wilshire Baptist Church

My desk had become a wicked mess, with piles of papers stacked so high there was danger of them collapsing into one big pile that avalanched onto the floor.

The mess was a testament to recent months where I was so busy and buffeted from one project to another that my desk became a dumping ground for anything and everything. For a while there was evidence of attempted cleanup when I had some sorted stacks on the floor, but those had to go back on the desk in crisscross piles when I started bringing home papers to sort from George Gagliardi’s apartment.

I finally decided enough was enough when I couldn’t see half of my computer screen and there was no place to park a cup of coffee. I need both of those for work.

Continue reading “Making Room for Advent”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Sometimes it feels a bit rote and habitual to come to this time of year and stop to “give thanks” for whatever comes to mind that we’ve enjoyed, benefitted from or been blessed by in the weeks and months since the last time we celebrated Thanksgiving. Don’t get me wrong: It’s a good exercise and one we should not take lightly. But what if we looked ahead and gave thanks in advance for what hasn’t happened yet? Is that even possible? And if so, what would our list look like?

Continue reading “Thanks in Advance”

For Wilshire Baptist Church

Have you ever been absent from a place for a long time and gone back and been welcomed as if you never left?

That happened to me recently at Pizza Getti, a little pizza and pasta place on South Buckner that I frequented for 20 years when I lived in the Casa Linda neighborhood in East Dallas. Small, quiet, friendly with great pizza for dining in or taking home, it was my to-go place until life took a turn and I moved to Garland. To the best of my figuring, I was absent from Pizza Getti for at least 18 years.

Continue reading “The Great Taste of Hospitality”