Bella’s Dream and My Next Life
I have a daughter, Ashley, who is thirty-four and a granddaughter, Bella, who is five years old. For all practical purposes I am Bella’s father also. Over the recent holiday my oldest daughter told me as I was going to bed that she couldn’t wait to see and experience Bella when she is grown up….
The Ocean is Real
I have had the misfortune of observing and participating in the difficult circumstances of some very important people to me. Their stories remind me of another story I heard or read a long time ago. A little boy was happily playing in a mud puddle as little boys do. It happened that as the boy…
Hardee’s Breakfast Platter
From time to time I eat breakfast at the Hardees in Ooltewah, TN. Breakfast time is the peak business time for Hardee’s and it was especially busy this morning. I usually don’t mind a great deal if I have to wait in line to be served. What I do mind is when a complete stranger…
My Lawnmower is Broken
My lawn mower is broken so I can’t think….but I manage to get the grass cut. Normally, riding on my little lawn tractor is a mindless chore. I used the time to be honest with myself about….myself. I lift my opinion to God and ask him, “Is this true?” Since my mower has a problem…
The Secret Life
There is a struggle. There is a sin. There is a weakness. There is an appetite. There is something that I battle that keeps me from experiencing a deeper, closer, and more intimate walk with God. There is a secret life. If I ceased to have that struggle, if I became strong and lost that…
I Don’t Know How
The word of God is alive…eternal…forever relevant. I sometimes get to speak to people who explain away the words of Jesus…the apostles…the patriarchs and prophets of the Old Testament as irrelevant to them. The mindset is something like this: “The words of the Bible may have carried weight in the time when they were penned…
Opening the Vein
(Disclaimer: The spiritual experience of others is not a sound foundation for arriving at truth. The second hand knowledge that one acquires about others as it pertains to their experience with God should ALWAYS be seen as theirs. The experience of others is at best suspect or at worst a lie.) My disclaimer does not…
The Irony and What’s Next
I have learned that what my heart truly desires is not relief from pain. I truly don’t want the difficulty of bad circumstances to go away and for stuff to work out. That’s not to say that I take some strange delight in difficulty or conflict. I think I would prefer a quiet, peaceful, and…
One Plus One Equals Three
I heard a lady today tell of an encounter she had with God. From her heart…from the core of her being…she asked God to change the way she thinks. There were lies she believed. She also recognized that the only thing she really wanted was to be at peace with God. It may be hard…
The Wine Maker
It is important for me to recognize that random thoughts, ideas, and memories may not be as random as they appear. I search for the path that connects them and then write it down. For example here are three thoughts/ideas/memories that have occurred to me recently. Is God silent or am I just deaf? Why…