A word about, … Creations If you come over to my house and check out my closet, you’ll find two or three brand new shirts I haven’t worn yet. I got them for Christmas. I’m not even sure Ive taken the tags of them yet. New shirts, sweaters, a new pocket knife. I got…
A Word About, … Another Ending One of my favorite storytellers is Mark Twain. I have a picture of him, in fact, hanging in my office. He grew up in Hannibal, Missouri and I grew up near St. Louis. His ‘times’ were much different than mine, his personal life tragic in many ways,…
A Word about, … Christmas Once, not so long ago for God I suppose, He did a very strange thing. On an ordinary day, the Lord, the Son of God, prepared to take His leave of heaven. I cannot say what the weather was like the day He left, but it must have…
A Word About, … Authenticity I don’t know how many times I’ve asked the question, but I have been known to ask a person I’m chatting with: “Do you journal?” The answers vary, of course, depending on the person. But there are some responses that seem to be most frequent: It’s either ‘Yes,”…
A Word About,… Truth I was talking to a friend the other day in a casual conversation, when he used an idiom that I’ve been pondering since our time together. He said he’d been invited to a party. “Truth be told,” he said, “I hated every minute of it, but I managed to look…
A Word About, … Encouragement As I sat alone eating in my favorite Thai cafe the other day, I noticed a couple having lunch, conversing, smiling, laughing. They looked married, and I supposed they were. Their interactions were animated, almost playful I think. And their lunch together seemed to make my lunch alone…
A Word About … Biographies I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t like a good story. There’s just something about the twists and turns and unexpected happenings in a great story that captures our imagination. And one of my favorite kinds of stories is an autobiography. When we read or hear the…
A Word About, …Overwhelmed I was feeling overwhelmed the other day with so many tasks and demands, and things in my life. As I sat in my pity party, thinking about that ‘feeling’ of being overwhelmed, I decided to check out the meaning of that word. Was I feeling ‘overwhelmed?’ or was it…
A Word About , …Alone Quick now: Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Many people think the way you measure such a thing is by how ‘talkative’ you are, or how shy you are. But researchers say that’s not the determining factor in introversion or extroversion. Instead, it’s what re-charges your battery emotionally. …
A Word About Learning I’ve been married to a teacher for a long time. My wife doesn’t spend her days in a classroom now, like she did when we were first married. But she started out teaching kindergarten and in our early years of marriage, I used to love to hear her stories of…