Growing up on a farm, I learned to drive early. If it had wheels and a motor, it was fair game. Lawn mowers, tractors, equipment, it didn’t matter. I may or may not have even learned to hotwire a thing or two when folks figured out leaving keys in the ignition was a bad idea. It was a “burden” that came with being a country kid. I mean, think about it, what could go wrong in the wide-open wilderness? Well…history…
Do you own a dog? Better yet, do you share your space, your clothes, your whole life with a little furry person? I do. He is my boy, Ollie. Well, I fell into a trap this morning. I started having a staring contest with Mr. Personality himself. I lost of course, but I began to wonder what random thoughts were behind those eyes. Does he know he is loved, cared for, safe, and that I would fight a wolf to…
This morning was cool, not just any cool, but the kind of cool that only comes to the South after a brutally hot summer. Some would say it is the first kiss of fall. Some would just say Thank God! Either way, your skin just wants to soak it in. Your senses seem to be running wide open. It is a unique kind of peace. A morning like this is the perfect healing balm for a fractured mind or wounded…
Imagine you could control the weather. With but a thought, a gentle request, you could shut off the rains of heaven, and not just for a day, but for years. Then just as easily, you ask that the drops of refreshing nourishment return, and they do. You literally hold the power of life in your hands. You are amazing. There is nothing you can’t do. You have the world by a string. You control your destiny. Don’t we all secretly…
Many of us brought up in the church have heard about the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes from the time we could sit upright in those uncomfortable little chairs in the church nursery until we got old enough to think of the logistics of trying to feed a big group of grumpy guests. Of all the miracles attributed to the ministry of Jesus, this is one of two that show up in all the Gospels. The other one, you…
I speak in pictures. Metaphors and similes litter my conversations like popcorn boxes filling a stadium after the game. They often overflow the banks of listeners’ understanding. To be honest, sometimes folks need a translator to understand my Southern pictograms. I need to take some time to paint a picture for you, something that needs to be put on the canvas of life. I hope you will indulge me. I am a workhorse. I am not a thoroughbred racehorse bred…
I am amazed every day I come home and my wife is still there. I have felt that way for our whole married life. She puts up with my radical mood swings, my need to control every detail, and my incessant need to always be right and get the last word. She is the most amazing person I know. Her friendship means the world to me. I have come to the radical conclusion that her memory is really short. It…
I have been very candid about my struggles with anxiety and depression. So candid in fact, that I fear I make some uncomfortable with my discourse. Those struggles have taken me away from my writing these last three years. My hope in sharing now, however, is that maybe one person would hear it and be forever changed for the better before the damage is too much or too permanent to overcome. Please understand, I don’t see myself as someone who…
I love listening to a Capella music. No manufactured instruments, just a chorus of human voices blending to make a joyous symphony of sound. Clever engineering, remixes, or lip syncing have little or no place in this genre. It is simply people who have practiced diligently to master their talents working seamlessly with others who have done the same. WOW! What if we lived our lives the same way? No hiding behind clever instrumentation, elaborate system engineering, crafty remixes, or simply repeating the…
Today a family is crying. A father is left with unanswered questions. A mother stares at a child’s trophies and momentos and wonders why. A life has ended too soon. It was not a life of ugly or secretive behaviors that destroyed promises of youth. It was not the result of some horrific accident that brought sadness too soon. No, this death was the result of one of the few illnesses still forced into the closet by our “open society.”…