I couldn’t understand what my two-year-old grandson, Eli, was saying. We were at our church’s playground, and as I was pushing him on the swing, he was asking me something I couldn’t quite make out. Finally, I got it. His Kentucky boy accent had his word for “bells” sounding like bales, as in bales of …
At the close of a visit with friend who has spent more time in the hospital than either he or anyone anticipated, I asked him what I could do for him. Without a moment’s hesitation, he said as plainly as his physical condition would allow: “I want you to pray for me.” He knew people …
The bumper sticker had only one word on it: “Loving-kindness.” And as soon as I read it, I suspected Someone was trying to mess with my mind, for I was in no mood for such a one word aphorism as “loving-kindness,” my patience having been tested by the distracted waitress who forgot to turn in …
“You always miss your daddy when he’s gone. My daddy’s been gone 25 years now, and I miss him every day.” That’s my 91-year-old dad consoling my wife, Lori, just the other day when we were visiting him in Lubbock, TX. Her dad died recently, and the pain left by his demise is still raw. …
George Washington Carver, the botanist and inventor—who as a black man in the Reconstruction era of nineteenth century America had reason upon reason for not succeeding—once observed, “Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” Carver made a conscious decision not to allow his disadvantages keep him from making …