Broadway Lights & Cabin Nights

Broadway Lights & Cabin Nights

I spent this week watching my students experience New York for the first time—and then came home to the realization that this is the last week all of my kids will be under one roof. It’s a strange, beautiful tension of joy, pride, and quiet ache… and I’m learning what it means to live in all of it at once.

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Finding God in the And

Finding God in the And

My daughter Maggie is leaving to serve a mission for our church and this afternoon was her farewell in church. She asked me to be the second speaker along with a musical number that included MANY of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a powerful meeting and I was honored to be asked to do that for her. After the service, several people asked me for a copy of my thoughts. I figured I’d just post them here as this was a momentous day for me and for her and I’d love it preserved forever. So, without further ado, here is the talk I gave in church today: March 8, 2026.

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Learning Grace… the Hard Way

Learning Grace… the Hard Way

Life has a funny way of revisiting certain lessons until we finally learn them well. This week reminded me that grace — especially in difficult moments — is often learned the hard way. But with time, perspective, and a little humility, even the hardest weeks can become teachers.

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The Hardest Show I’ve Ever Done
Leadership, Theatre, Faith & Growth Jere Van Patten Leadership, Theatre, Faith & Growth Jere Van Patten

The Hardest Show I’ve Ever Done

Theatre hits differently when you’re breathing the same air as the story unfolding in front of you. This weekend, I closed two shows — and one of them became the hardest production I’ve ever led. A train-wreck rehearsal just days before opening. And then, almost overnight, everything shifted. Here’s what it taught me about culture, faith, and showing up again.

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Looking Forward Through the Rearview

Looking Forward Through the Rearview

I didn’t plan to write this today.

This morning, I opened Facebook, scrolled past a few things, and then—boom—it did that thing it does and served up a memory I didn’t go looking for. Actually… it served up two. One from 2021. The other from 2022. Both deeply honest. Both from very different emotional places.

Reading them stopped me in my tracks. Suddenly, I was face-to-face with past versions of myself—one who was barely hanging on, and one who had found his footing again. It caught me off guard and sent me into a spiral of reflection I didn’t expect.

And that’s what led me here—writing this update four years later.

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