jskogerboe.com :: one thing

  May 9, 2010.  Living Hope Church in St. Michael-Albertville, MN.  I taught some practical Biblical principles to help make a wise choice when we face a big decision.  The kind that will change the direction of our life.  Should I take that job?  Where do I go to school?  Should I ask her to marry [...]

“Joshua, please forgive us, but we have just taken a closer look at your profile.  It turns out you’re more special than any of us imagined!” Yeah baby!  THAT’S the way to start a letter!  Alright, mystery guy who sent me a personal letter just to me, for me only.  You had me at hello.  [...]

The first memory I have of Auntie Natalie is eating frost she had scraped out of the freezer on the farm in Karlstad, MN, out of a plastic glass with a metal spoon.  Like a naked snow cone.  And listening to a Steve Martin album in her bedroom.  I must have been five or six, maybe.  [...]

Jump in pool to cool off.  Get out and drip dry while reading.  Repeat as necessary. This was my agenda for  most of last week on a family vacation on Hilton Head Island, SC.  No worship practices to plan.  No PowerPoint presentations to prep.  No sermons to prepare for.  Just sun, and family, and the [...]

Facepalm. Sometimes that’s the best word I have to describe my feeble attempts at husbandry.  Almost 16 years ago now I married the ONE girl God crafted and wired just for me.  Amy is the one girl I’ve ever loved.  She’s the mom of my crazy amazing boys.  She is quick-witted, faith-filled, and beautiful.  Deadly [...]

As of 7:05PM last night, it’s official.  I’ve been accepted to begin Seminary this Fall at AFLTS in Plymouth, MN. For the first time in a long season of living in “the between land” we feel like we have more answers than questions.  In reality, that is probably not the case… we still don’t know [...]

  When I was a kid, my parents didn’t want us to watch Scooby Doo.  They thought it would leech our brain cells by its very nature:  predictable, ridiculous, low-brow, bad art.  They foresaw our IQ dropping steadily every Saturday morning, ultimately resulting in our academic failure at some institution of higher learning, thereby ensuring [...]

House lights down.  Spots up center.  Brightly dressed kids grouped around the front of stage mics. Levi’s big moment… “He has perfect pitch, doesn’t he?!” YES!!  AWESOME!!  Way to SELL it kid!  Never before has a six-year-old NAILED “He has perfect pitch, doesn’t he?!” with such nuance… such finesse… such aplomb. I rise from the soundboard I’m [...]

When Katherine Bigelow got her second chance at the mic last night, shortly after winning “Best Picture” for “The Hurt Locker,” my wife and I were more than a little worried. “Oh boy… oh, she’s… she’s in trouble.  She’s going over… Oh boy.  She’s in shock.” She looked ill.  And unsteady on her feet.  Maybe [...]

Our gravitational pull is toward numb.  It is just not possible to sustain gut-wrenching emotion.  So when suffering outlasts our natural capacity for compassion, we need to intentionally remind ourselves.  Feel it again. It has been over a month since the earthquake. Conditions on the ground are worse, not better, in many cases.  As time [...]