Thoughts About My Four-Year-Old Roshi

Mick Turner
As this final month of the year is winding down and the New Year is already taken up residence in the birth canal, I have been reflecting a bit on the past year and some of its blessings. I suspect this is a healthy thing to do, given the general negative state of the [...]

The Spiritual Responsibility of Fatherhood

Mick Turner
*** Although written from the perspective of fatherhood, all that follows pertains to mothers as well.

My wife is currently in China on business, as is the case quite often these days, and my four-year-old daughter Salina is home alone with Daddy. Lately, she has reminded me on several occasions what a awesome blessing being [...]

The High Honor of Marriage and Parenting

Mick Turner
I have increasingly come to the awareness that we are placed where we are for a reason. The wisdom of God has arranged for us the very circumstances we need in order to step outside of our own self-absorption and sense of self-importance and develop a heart of intimate compassion for and with those [...]

The Fragrance of God

Mick Turner
This morning when I woke up and shook the fog out of my head, I became aware that I was thinking back on an experience I had undergone many years ago. Perhaps I had dreamed about it or it could be that the Sacred Spirit was bringing it to my attention for some reason. [...]

Wise Words for Today

Without wonder, we approach spiritual formation as a self-help project…..Unfortunately, we do not live in a world that promotes or encourages wonder. Wonder is natural and spontaneous to all of us. When we were children, we were in a constant state of wonder. The world was new, tumbling in on us in profusion. We staggered [...]

Another Busy Day

Today has been quite hectic. I got out of bed at 4:30 this morning and, after a short quiet time, got to work. I was on a noon deadline and I had about 3500 words worth of material to churn out. My keyboard was clicking away long before my wife and four-year-old daughter got out [...]

A Blessed Day

Just wanted to let readers know that today is a very blessed and special day in the Turner home. Four years ago today, May 18, 2004, our daughter Salina was born and our lives were forever changed. If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you may be aware that little Salina was an [...]

Need For Continuing Prayer For China

I have been in consistent contact with friends, relatives, and fellow belivers in China. For the most part, the people I am close with live a good distance from Sichuan Province, the area of greatest impact. The people I have talked with tell stories of tremendous suffering and loss. One friend, a teacher at a [...]

Pray For Earthquake Victims

I humbly ask that you pray for victims of the tragic and massive earthquake that hit central China a few days back. The death toll is already over 12,000 and rising by the hour. Many victims were children. As some of you know, I worked in China for over five years and my wife is [...]

The Eyes of a Child: Part Two

Mick Turner
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article for this site about the sense of awe and wonder with which children tend to explore the world. Today, I want to briefly continue that theme.
 
In “Thoughts on Reverence and Wonder: The Eyes of a Child,” I talked about my soon to be four-year-old daughter, [...]