Successful Living – Page 13

November 17, 2020December 2, 2020

Perspective on Living

Over two years ago, I was lying on an emergency room bed and upon reading my EKG, the medical staff said, “You are having a heart attack right now!” They made short work of prepping me for a heart catherization and one stent and twenty-seven months later I am doing well. In that moment, I had a deep, profound sense of peace. Live or die, I was at peace with God.

November 5, 2020November 5, 2020

Journey Update: November 2020

Can you believe it’s November? I’m ready for COVID-19, elections, and hot weather to be over with. Anyone with me on this? “I see that hand!!”

The deadline for our CareBox Project for our children in Haiti will be Tuesday, November 10th at noon. We will be shipping them out that afternoon making their long journey to our facilities outside of Leogane, Haiti. We greatly appreciate each individual and church that helps us with this project. It blesses a bunch of children. Thank you all so much.

October 29, 2020October 29, 2020

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”.

October 17, 2020October 16, 2020

Smell the Smoke

My grandson and I went out a few nights ago and cooked up a little hot chocolate on a campfire. While sitting around the fire, the smoke seemed to chase us. We would move our camp chairs to escape the smoke and you know where the smoke went next, right? Yep, we were like smoke magnets. When we went back inside for the night, we smelled like we had been roasted.

In the world we live in, the smoke seems to be chasing us. It’s hard to get away from the clamor of the world.

September 25, 2020September 25, 2020

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.

September 17, 2020October 2, 2020

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?

September 11, 2020

Resurrection of Personal Responsibility

When I get up in the morning and look in the mirror, I see the man who gives me the most trouble in life—ME! It would be easier to blame my parents, my wife, my siblings, my co-workers, or society in general, but I need to take responsibility for my own failures, brokenness, and, yes, sin.

September 7, 2020September 6, 2020

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.

September 4, 2020September 3, 2020

Journey Update: September 2020

We appreciate your prayers and continued financial support. I cannot express with mere words our thankfulness to God and to you for helping us. I pray for you every month. No one takes this journey of ministry alone and your support is an additional blessing of encouragement.

August 28, 2020August 28, 2020

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.