Some folks just don’t know how to be happy! They chase a dream that is just beyond their grasp and are blind to the blessings in their hand.
Continue reading “Simple Pleasures”Simple Pleasures
Alone
I have travelled long distances alone. I am not saying it is a preferred way to travel but not an unpleasant experience as some may think. There is joy and comfort with traveling partners or family but being alone has some pluses also. I love being with people but sometimes I need a little solitude. I can be quite comfortable being alone.
Continue reading “Alone”How Shall We Live?
In these difficult days, how shall we as Christians live? What do we need to do and how do we need to respond?
As Christians, we are against lawlessness and violence. We pray for peace and pursue peace in all our endeavors. Peaceable dialogue is our default mode. We peer to the horizon and see swirling clouds of a storm against us.
Continue reading “How Shall We Live?”Considering Ourselves
I am a little skeptical when I hear someone say, “I don’t need the approval of others.” We all enjoy an “atta boy” every now and then. In my years when I had work supervisors, I would work harder for one who gave positive affirmations than for one who I could not satisfy. More than we realize, we use the words of others for a mirror.
Continue reading “Considering Ourselves”Outa Sorts
You know the feeling! You’re not sick but you don’t really feel good. You’re not depressed but you’re not really in a happy place. Yep, you’re “outa sorts” (out of sorts) and you feel blah. Outa sorts is something akin to stale bread or constipation.
Continue reading “Outa Sorts”Certainty of God
The uncertainties of life would drive a sane person mad if they obsessed about it. We tend to tuck the doubts and fears in a back corner of our minds so we can have (as my Appalachian kindred would say) “walking around sense”.
Continue reading “Certainty of God”Balance
Over the years I have tried to apply balance to my life and encourage it in others. I have found that those who like to view themselves as radicals do not like the concept of balance. Balance sounds like compromise to the radical. I try to be very choosy on which mountains I am willing to die on; molehills are not mountains.
Continue reading “Balance”Where to Go at the End of the Road
If I’m travelling on the road and dog tired, the “Vacancy” sign in the motel window promises a hot shower and a bed with clean sheets. On the interstate to somewhere the “Cracker Barrel sign in two miles” puts hope in my stomach and cheers me on to the next exit. But what about rest for my soul?
Continue reading “Where to Go at the End of the Road”Work With Your Own Hands
I was raised in a working-class family who had risen out of Depression Era poverty. Most of our neighbors were either poor or slowly rising to middle-class status. Our exposure to rich people was rare.
Continue reading “Work With Your Own Hands”Some “Speckulation”
Do you have a speck in your eye? My eye is feeling a little scratchy! Jesus talked about people having specks and planks in their eyes. These specks and planks can cause a lot of “speckulation” about other people.
Continue reading “Some “Speckulation””