We all know people who have been laid off, fired or whose jobs have disappeared altogether. For millions, months have now turned into years of unemployment or under-employment. Maybe this is you. I have a friend — John — who lost his job. His attitude was amazing. With a wife and children at home, he could have, he should have gotten angry. But instead his very first reaction was of expectancy. “I don’t like it. I don’t understand it. But... Read more
(Photo credit: OldOnliner) Have you ever opened up a desk drawer and promptly closed it because it was just too messy to deal with. Some of us have chapters of our lives that we wish weren’t part of our history. There is abundant counsel and books that go to great lengths to help us “deal with it.” The problem is that there seems to be so little to deal with. For me, when I look back at those years, when I survey the... Read more
(This is a repost from last year’s Mother’s Day article. When I printed it off and showed it to her, she cried. I didn’t know it would be her last Mother’s Day) She was always a good sport. Amazing senseof humor. “Mom, hold this broom and smile” Mom has always had a passion for flowers. She believed they could brighten any drab room, liven any conversation, and change any dour mood. For 20 years, she took this vision earnestly each... Read more
“Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind.” — Leonardo da Vinci, The Notebooks What do you do to keep fresh? Photo by Justified Sinner Please, share with a friend if you feel moved. Read all past issues at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/davidrupert Read more
What will our children remember? We all treasure memories. At most of my family gatherings, more than one conversation begins with the expression, “remember when?” The term is sometimes used to provoke a story, to spur the conversation. But in a deeper way, it’s a tool to help us never forget, to perpetuate the memory. If you don’t keep telling the story, the details get fuzzy – or exaggerated. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard about the root... Read more
Photo by Andy Arthur When personal tragedy hits, we often are shocked to the core.Where did that come from? When we are hit with a failed relationship or a big bill or the loss of a job, we go into a nerve-rattling state of unbelief. Who could have seen that one coming? But the truth of the matter is that there really is no such thing as “all of sudden” When we objectively look back at our past, we can see... Read more
It was a big day. The family was over for Thanksgiving and the kid table Read more
“We strain to renew our capacity for wonder, to shock ourselves into astonishment once again.”— Shana Alexander There was one point in my life that all I wanted was salvation.Sick of my selfish ways, tired of the struggle, and lost in sin, I needed a savior. On a hot July night, I bowed my head and prayed with a grey-haired man with gnarled fingers pointing to the path down the Roman road. Then I wanted knowledge. I began to... Read more
I remember when my mother threatened to hold me back a year. I was the youngest in my First-Grade class, an anomaly of the school calendar. I wasn’t adapting well and she thought I might do better by starting over again. Somehow, I talked my way through it. But the truth is that I probably wasn’t ready. It’s that way for me now. There are some life lessons I really should have learned a long time ago. I heard this verse recently... Read more
I used to feel sorry for Karen. Now, I wonder if she feels sorry for us. You see, she has a life completely free of baggage and worry, of bondage and burden. And the rest of us… well, we got junk. Her story could have been a deadly tragedy. She was driving a car 25 years ago and hit a tree, almost dying in the process. Hospital stays, rehab and plenty of treatments followed. She has no recollection of that... Read more
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