This is a written adaptation of a message I gave to Awaken City Church, Knoxville on July 19, 2015. If you spend enough time in churches or Christian culture, you are going to be familiar with some mainstay stories from the Bible: Noah’s ark, Jonah and the whale, Daniel…
Five Loaves & Two Fish
On April 12, 2015, I had the privilege of sharing with the adult congregation of Awaken City Church, West Knoxville again.…
Letting the Phantom Fade
This post contains strong language.
He was a singer; he was an artist; he was studying to be a minister. He was unstable; he was a sadist; he was a pedophile. He was my father. His name was Joseph Edwin Wilkinson, the same as mine and my grandfather's. On May 17, 2010, I discovered he…
Desires of the Heart
So, I spoke in front of the adult congregation of Awaken City Church, Knoxville on February 2, 2014. The positive feedback has been a blessing. As you will hear if you listen to the recording below, many people told me that I was worthless growing up: thankfully, God loves to…
Breadcrumbs and Bowing
This post is part of a series. Click here to consult the table of contents or click here to start at the beginning.
Jess and I had exchanged some American money for yen with our bank in preparation for our trip to Japan, but this was mostly to cover our lodgings. Some of the hotels explicitly said they accepted credit cards, some that they did not: this left us in the dark for…
Home Alone 19: Lost in Tokyo
This post is part of a series. Click here to consult the table of contents or click here to start at the beginning.
We were feeling good getting off the bus in Tokyo: we had directions from our stop to the hotel, and once we checked in and dropped off our suitcases and backpacks, the real meat of our trip could begin. But when we consulted our directions, we found that they made…
First Stay in Narita
This post is part of a series. Click here to consult the table of contents or click here to start at the beginning.
We didn't have long in Narita because we were taking a bus to Tokyo the next morning. As much as we wanted to start exploring, we wanted check in to our hotel and pass out even more. Thankfully, the airport had free buses to take travelers to their hotels. We…
22 Hours
This post is part of a series. Click here to consult the table of contents or click here to start at the beginning.
The most pressing of our worries concerning the trip to Japan was the idea of losing valuable time due to jet lag. Working a night-shift job taught me how to manipulate my sleep schedule rather quickly, although my method relies heavily on masochistic sleep deprivation. This is why I had…
A Long Hiatus
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It has been more than a year since I wrote An Adventure, which was to serve as an introduction to the rest of the stories amassed during our honeymoon in Japan. Just like the plans mentioned in that piece, this one fell to the wayside. Upon returning to real life,…
An Adventure
After much planning and preparation (and perspiration from thinking that we didn't do enough of the first two), Jess's and my wedding finally arrived on October 13, 2012. It was such a blessing to see people from both of our lives come out to bear witness to our union and…