Ken Jones · Classic State of Mind – Arrivals A Word About Arrivals I mailed them yesterday. Three boxes containing Christmas gifts for my son and his family who live in Southern California. I was grateful I was the only customer when I arrived at the FedEx mailing center. And they even had carts available,…
A Word About Milestones The other day in church I talked to a good friend of mine who is exactly two weeks older than I am. He said to me, “In five months, I’ll be eighty years old.” I told him I thought that was an amazing accomplishment. But almost as soon as those…
A Word About Moving I talked to a young man this morning who works in a little coffee hut I frequent. Often, when I stop there in the morning to grab coffee on my way into my office, he greets me and we exchange brief updates on our lives, how we’re doing. Several weeks…
A Word About Digging A few years ago, I had the opportunity to do a missionary construction trip in Belize, Central America with some of the guys in my church. In addition to our construction project, I had been asked to speak at a local church on one Sunday evening. As I approached the…
A Word About Trees Every morning as I walk out my front door, there’s a tree in my yard that stands at attention like a sentry ready to greet me. In the spring of the year, it’s wearing lovely green leaves and pinkish-white blossoms. But by early summer those blossoms are gone, and the shade…
A Word About Generosity Early in our ministry, my wife and I served on the staff of a great church. She worked as a volunteer director of the church nursery, caring for the babies and infants while parents enjoyed a worship service. One hired assistant was needed to help in the nursery, and my wife…
A Word About Opinions In our first year of marriage, my wife and I were finishing up our educations. The old car we were driving had been a faithful mode of transportation, but it finally decided it had had enough. It was totally worn out, and began to cost more in repairs than it was…
A Word About Authenticity Her given name was Sarah, but everyone called her “Ma” Jones. She was my great-grandmother. Ma is not an uncommon title for people in the hills of Missouri’s Ozark Mountains, when referring to the senior members of a particular clan. She cooked on a wood stove in her tiny kitchen; a…
A Word About Prayer I have known for a long time about the potential for intimacy that prayer creates. Praying creates a certain kind of intimacy with the One to whom we pray. When I realize that God has allowed me to come into his presence with an open invitation to share with him whatever…
A Word About,… Obvious I had some minor surgery done last week on the top of my head. My blond hair (back when I actually had hair) and my fair skin were indicators that I would be a great candidate for developing skin cancers in my later years. Well, last week was a part…