Christmas Is Wonderful–and Christmas Is Hard
This year, let’s slow down amid the frenzy of the Christmas season, seek the quiet light of God’s presence, and rediscover the peace and wonder of Christ’s birth.
Inspiration
How to Cook a Thanksgiving Turkey
The old woman felt weird, not cooking this year. But she’d given up cooking Thanksgiving ever since the stroke paralyzed half of her body and forced her into an assisted living home.
The Tryouts
The Little League team was good. Really good. The nine mop-haired, lanky boys, clad in classic ‘70s harvest-gold uniforms, were undefeated this season. They had a shot at the pennant. But then, devastation.
Some Kinda Kindness
The mid-80s. Detroit. The boy didn’t have much. He was one of those teens most people won’t notice. Each day, he walked to and from school with a ratty backpack on his shoulders, containing a pitiful lunch he made himself, since he had no mother to prepare meals.
The Chalkboard In My Kitchen
The wall is painted with black chalkboard paint. So it’s basically a big blackboard, just like the kind you once used for working out algebra problems in front of your whole class.
’tis the Season
Even in the holiday and seasonal blues, God offers comfort, practical hope, and the steady promise of His unfailing presence.
Thankful in All Things
On your mark, get set, GO! But before the holiday frenzy gets cranked up, let’s pause to give thanks.
The Story of a Veteran
She was born in 1821 in the humble town of Winchendon, Massachusetts. She must have been a spirited baby because she was a spirited woman.
The Sentinel
The Sentinel There exists a chamber in the garret where all the secrets dwell, slumbering beneath the dusty shrouds meant to conceal them for eternity. The passage, a narrow one, remains barricaded, padlocked and bolted, defended with the strength and stamina, the fervor and fortitude, the power and potency, the brawn and bravado of a …
Never and somehow again
When dealing with an all-volunteer force, retention will always be an issue especially when civilian society is competing for the same talent.
The Old Preacher
The Baptist church in Brewton was decked for a funeral. Men wore ties. Women wore dresses. The occasional elderly woman in a floral hat was seen wandering the premises. You don’t see many floral hats anymore.
We were burying the preacher today.
Two Farm Guys
It was a rural area. Hundreds of acres of almond trees. The scent of organic fertilizer filling the air. Two farmworkers were repairing a broken tractor near Avenue 8 and Road 23 ½ in Madera County. That’s when they noticed something. The men saw a school bus on fire.
Twenty-Seven Names
On Interstate 71, just outside Carrollton, Kentucky, stands a lone highway sign. It’s a small sign, DOT-green, no frills. Easy to miss. But it’s there. The sign reads, “SITE OF FATAL BUS CRASH—MAY 14, 1988.” That’s all.
Hotel Breakfasts
The hotel lobby. Early morning. The dining room is filled with people all eating complimentary breakfasts of plasticized food-like matter.
Finding Light in a Spiritual Fog
Even in spiritual fog, the Holy Spirit remains–calling us to trust, to stay in His word, and to keep walking until His light returns.
The Story of Me
I sort of raised myself. My dad died when I was a kid. He died by suicide, shortly after he’d been released from county lockup on bail. His death was dramatic. It made the papers. On his final night, he almost took my mother to the grave with him.
Challenge Accepted
Natalie Grabow, of Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, has just become the oldest woman to finish the Ironman World Championship Triathlon. Amazingly, Natalie only learned how to swim around age 60. Today, Natalie is 80 years old.
My Little School
It was late. I pulled into the campus after seven o’clock to attend my last class of the semester. My last college class. Ever. It was a night class. In America, most self-respecting people my age were finishing supper, settling down to watch “Wheel of Fortune.” But I was in school. I had been attending …
In the Matter of… Why I use ‘Levels’ instead of ‘Years of Age’ by Smitty
American Citizen Writer, Colonel (and Medical Doctor) U.S. Army Retired, offers up an inspirational anecdote about continuation of public service…after service.
The Boy Who Was a Chicken
Nobody could explain how it happened. But one day, Willy sort of lost his mind. Namely, because Willy walked into the kitchen and declared that he was a chicken. Not a proverbial chicken, mind you. But literal poultry. The kind that go bawk-bawk, cock-a-doodle-doo, and all such manner of clucking.