“ A  lie can run around the world six times while the truth is still trying to put on its pants” – Mark Twain

I will never forget a parent-teacher conference that I had with the parents of one of the kids in my third grade class many years ago. I was sharing with the parents how their son was showing a consistent pattern of not telling the truth about having his homework done; that rarely had he completed the nightly Math sheet yet he would always say that he had. It was only when I actu...

“ Pride costs more than hunger, thirst, and cold.” – Thomas Jefferson

There exists numerous elements in one’s life that can destroy them. These things are costly and the price can be a high one. If a person is hungry, thirsty, or cold their entire lives are affected. These physical conditions wear and fray on the mind and the spirit of a human being simply because everyone needs food, water and warmth to survive. If we would ever find ourselves without these necessary provisions f...

“ All that I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all that I have not seen.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The American poet and essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson surely has put his finger on a great truth with the above quote. So much of life that is right in front of us screams the existence of a creator, a master designer, a God.

One needs look no further than the human body itself to prove this. I can remember as a child my dad once said to me “ Isn’t it neat how peoples’ ears...

“ The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles as in growing with them.” – Bernard M. Baruch

What life has no trouble?  Such a life does not exist. Human beings struggle with all kinds of areas of trouble…money woes, health issues, family hurts, friendship problems, parenting pain, you name it….the list is endless.

Our happiness and fulfillment in dealing with trouble really is not to escape it or wipe it out because that is impossible. Rather, the solution is to first...

“ Call on God but row away from the rocks “ -  Hunter S. Thompson

I simply love this quote. So simple yet hits the target. As a Christian I sometimes get worn out by the over spiritualizing that is done in every day life.

What I mean by that is that there is just so much of life that is common sense that we do not need to pray about. For example, I don’t need to pray about whether or not I want to have creamy or crunchy peanut butter on a sandwich …I really don’t. I simply like ...

My heart is so heavy as I write this morning. I just saw the news announcement that the body that was found in a Georgia landfill is almost certainly that of the little seven year old girl that I wrote about in yesterday’s blog. The finding has not been confirmed yet but a birth mark and the clothes found on the partially clad body leave little doubt that it is indeed the remains of little Somer.

 
I also just watched a clip of a brief statement that the grandparents gave on the front lawn ...

A couple of weeks ago I happened to be watching the first football game that was being played in the brand new Dallas Cowboys Stadium. This new structure truly was impressive, complete with a sixty yard scoreboard, movable parts, the works. What was most startling about that night though was not all the grand features of this brand spanking new facility but the number of people that filled it up that night. I think the announcer stated that there were over one hundred thousand folks in attend...

This past week starting on Wednseday and ending yesterday on Sunday, my husband and I spent approximately 15 hours in church. On Weds., Thurs., and Fri. evenings, we were there for about two hours each evening, on Sat. evening,  we were there for about four hours, and yesterday which was Sunday, we were there for about five hours between the morning and evening services. None of this is all that unusual because we spend much of our time at church however this past week was missions conference...

         Everyone lies. That is a fact. The only human who ever walked this earth who never told a lie was Jesus which is why His sacrifice on the cross has the power to wipe out our sins and cancel our debt.

        The difference however between some folks and others is the frequency and the depth of their lying. Some folks have a strange and incredible capacity to lie and deceive so often, so thoroughly, that their entire life itself actually becomes one enormous lie.

        Look...

         My dad taught me many specific lessons as I grew up but one specific one stands out. He taught me that most folks grow up reading story books about life that is lived happily ever after and that they tend to believe those stories. What I mean by that is that people have a mistaken notion that the “normal” life, the status quo life is one that is lived fairly problem free and void of pain and devastation. They have incredibly high expectations which basically sets them up for huge...

        The other day I was driving along the road outside of my neighborhood and approached a red light. I was sitting completely stopped and my mind was in a very far away place because I became aware of the people in the car in front of me half hanging out of their windows and yelling my name. It was a family who we know very well and are friendly with however it was only the last second that I even noticed them trying to get my attention. This happens to me all the time. I will see some o...

         This morning I read a heartbreaking article about a young twenty-four year old man who was not able to be with his mother at the time of her death because he was incarcerated. The young man that I speak of is Redmond O’Neal, the son of Farrah Fawcett , a lady and a celebrity who passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. Her son Redmond had been sentenced to an eighteen month jail sentence in which he is also undergoing an intensive drug treatment program. He was allowe...

         Have you ever had the wind knocked out of you? I do not just mean taking a hard fall where you lose your breath for a second or two. What I am talking about is enduring an impact that is so jolting that your ability to breathe is completely gone for about twenty to thirty seconds. It happened to me only once in my life and the memory of it will always be with me. I was about ten years old and was standing at the top of the flight of stairs at our house with my pajamas on and I was al...

        Are  you a skeptic? Perhaps a definition of the word itself will aid you in being able to answer this question correctly for yourself. I found numerous definitions for the word “skeptic” but in my opinion, found the following one to be the most appealing and the most accurate…

 Skeptic- A person who is yet undecided as to what is true.

        This definition is precise, succinct and yet leaves a glimmer of hope for the skeptic himself doesn’t it?  It tells us that th...

The older that I get, the more clearly I understand how very miniscule I am in the whole grand scheme of things. When we are young, we tend to view our lives from a very narrow lens in which we are the center of the action. Think of most teenagers that you know..they often times are the center of their universe as much of their thought life, their energy , their ambitions and so forth is completely centered on them. This is not an indictment on today’s youth because I remember being the ver...