Recent Columns

(The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday, March 30, 2013) KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ I’m the odd man out in a loose circle in the campus home of the university president talking about God’s grace, an unsurprising discussion because, besides being a university and my own family’s home, this is a nearly century-old theological training centre. The horrible news of late is the roadside murder of a young law student, John Otim, beaten dead with an iron bar for money that he didn’t even have.

It was in the garden where he talked to his Father. ‘Abba,’ he said, which is to say, ‘Daddy.’ ‘Daddy, I know you can do anything. And I know you can take this away from me. This cup. I know you can take it away. It’s too much. Too bitter. Too awful. Daddy. Please, Daddy, […]

(Christian Week - April 2013) KAMPALA, UGANDA ✦ Jesus wept. Not long before he set his face like flint toward Jerusalem and the cross, he wept. Why? Surely he knew how it would all end, how he'd resurrect Lazarus, who lay nearby so cold and dead; how this miracle would foreshadow his own final triumph over the grave. Was he playing his audience? It's a scene with at least some strangeness. Here's another.

We were talking about talking animals, the type that talk in Narnia. To think that a horse or a fawn or a messianic lion for that matter would not only have a mind of its own, but actually express it in one way or another is something that speaks to the child in us, or, at […]

(The UCU Standard - Friday, November 1, 2013) MUKONO, UGANDA ✦ Suicide is a shabby and shameful business, something that nice people don’t get mixed up in, yet here they are, two suicides in our university family, two young people who in separate incidents have left us with nothing but a disturbing ‘good-bye.’

Friends can be funny. Just when you think you know the sort of friend that is best for your kids, along comes someone unexpected in a clown outfit. I’m thinking of Moses, the sort of character I’ll have to help you imagine. Think leaning back, way back, on his hot-rod chopper, so far back that […]

It was late and I was at Liz’s bedside. It was dark. A quiet moment. Her eyes were more closed than open, but she noticed me. ‘Why did you come back?’ she asked. ‘To give you the blessing,’ I said. And I did, the one that I say most nights to the three kids, one […]

‘Daddy, Daddy!’ It’s Jon. He’s really excited. He’s harvested his potatoes. ‘Look at this one. It’s as big as the ones you see on the shelves in the store!’ He stands at the edge of his garden and holds up a potato. I wouldn’t say it’s huge. But it’s not small either. Not like the […]

It was early morning and you were crying. We were all in a mad rash heading out the door for school. ‘What’s the matter?’ I asked. ‘I’m not telling you,’ you said. And I thought that was fine, either way, telling me or not. Some things aren’t always meant to be shared at moment’s notice. But my dear Liz, just […]

The pressure is on for me to tell Hannah, our youngest, about the Birds and the Bees. It all started with Sexy Lady. No, Justin Bieber. Okay, all I can remember is Jon, in his eloquence and wisdom, was talking about the difference between women and ladies. This is how the discussion goes on the drive home […]

It’s bedtime. The issue of Catholics and Protestants comes up, like we just dropped into the 16th century. That moves to Mennonites. The kids want to know what Mennonites are all about. We have a Mennonite name and heritage. (You know Friese, Frieselandt, Froese etc.) I figure it’s a good time to share some family pride (in […]

Jon: Where’s the cat? Me: I don’t know. He’s on one of his long absences. Jon: At his girlfriend’s? Me: Probably Jon: Why doesn’t his girlfriend ever come here? Enough said. +++ The rabbits, meanwhile, have deliverd seven. Liz sold one to her friend at school; another is being taken by a colleague of My […]

The other time that we almost lost Jon, (see https://thomasfroese.com/the-day-we-almost-lost-jon/ for the first time), he was running from a girl at school. As fast as possible. (This is not unusual for my son, a young man who tends to be pursued by the girls. https://thomasfroese.com/too-young-to-marry/  and https://thomasfroese.com/jons-pre-marital-woes-continue/ ) But during this partiuclar chase he crashed head-first into […]

We lose things in our family. Swimming goggles. Socks. Our patience with each other. We’ve almost lost Jon twice. The first time was at our Ugandan university home, which is generally safe except for the snakes and wild monkeys and irritating birds that tend to hang around such institutions of higher learning. ‘So, where is […]

So, apparently 90 per cent of 18-29-year-olds sleep with their smartphones. This, one more reason why having a phone with a low IQ isn’t the worse thing. And one more reason why it’s not a great idea to get a kid a phone. Being active in bed too young has its consequences. One is you go crazy. […]