You never know what a day may bring. We’ve experienced that truth over the past few months. When COVID hit, our youngest daughter’s college closed its doors and she moved back home. One month later our oldest daughter, suddenly faced with drastic and undesirable changes to her living situation, also moved back home. I rearranged …
From over 30 years’ experience, I’ve noticed we can learn many lessons in the kitchen if we’ll pay attention. For instance, have you thought much about plastic wrap? Alone, its flimsy floppiness appears virtually useless. And left to its own devices, it mostly sticks to itself. Or, as if it had a mind of its …
Some of our family enjoys movies based on Marvel comic book characters. Ironman, Thor, Spider-Man, Captain America — these superheroes use superhuman power to fight bad guys. And while we see their flaws, we still root for them to win. They inspire us to keep going when the going gets tough. Did you know that …
Recently we decided to visit a new automatic car wash. What a cool machine! We drove up to their conveyor, shifted into neutral, then just sat in the car as it pulled us through. After powerful streams of soapy water, we passed through a forest of suspended scrubbing strips, followed by a final rinse and a blow dry …
This summer I work with a bright, ambitious young college student who, among other things, performs wonders with spreadsheets. When I draw attention to his solo accomplishments, he deflects my praise, saying “we” did it, because “we’re a team!” His humility catches me by surprise, and his unassuming manner reminds me of David in the …
When I was a boy living in the panhandle of Florida, my family visited our little beachfront cottage in Gulf Shores, Alabama in the summer. One July evening when there was no moon and calm seas, my dad announced conditions were just right, and we would go floundering that night. Now you may have floundered …
With growing season in full swing, we spend many hours weeding, planting, and watering our lovely flowers and (struggling) lawn. Spending time outdoors invigorates our souls and brings us joy. And Genesis 1:1 tells us where gardening began: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. From this verse and the rest of …
I recently read an article about former coach of the Miami Dolphins, Don Shula. To date, he holds the NFL record for most career wins—347 over a 32 season period. He led his team to two Super Bowl victories, one of which came after coaching them through the only perfect season in NFL history. Apparently …
A song I recently heard included an interesting line: “If the present is a place that my future will define, I want to slow things down and take a little time…”* While I don’t know what the songwriter intended, the words prompted me to consider how people view the present. Some, as this lyric might …
We once owned a Fisher-Price Corn Popper toy. When our two-year-old Jeremy rolled it across the floor, the balls inside the clear dome popped up like popcorn. But he called it his ‘lawn mower’ because that’s what he thought it looked like. So one day he asked if he could take it in the back …
Our friends’ son enlisted in the U.S. Army right after high school. He rose to become an elite Ranger, then later a Green Beret and a member of the Special Forces Dive Team. At one point, within days of his unit’s deployment to Iraq, his parents called to tell him a close relative, like a …
Memorial Day morning, 2020, while doing some laundry, I overheard my wife listening to a podcast. It seemed the speaker first addressed the meaning of the holiday, remembering soldiers who died to preserve our freedom. He then suggested that our best response was not to mourn, but to make the most of our lives. As …
