Holidays can be many things to different people, depending on their circumstances  and environments and a host of other factors. For example, Christmas is filled with excitement for little kids. (I once was one, so I know!) It can also be exciting for older adults, especially if they have the opportunity to spend the time with out-of-state family members. (I experience that excitement every odd-yeared Christmas as we and our four daughters and their husbands and children gath

I’m thankful that I live in a country that affords me great freedoms, of expression, of worship, of opportunities to better myself, and of so much more that people of other countries far different would die for. No matter how turbulent, divided, muddied, and poisoned the political waters are at the moment, I’m still privileged to live in the greatest country on earth. I’m thankful for so much more, but time and space won’t allow me to keep listing them all. The act of giving

Readers of this blog know by now that I’m a bibliophile, I love books and reading them. Granted, I’m selective in what I read, but within certain categories I read avidly. I must be selective in my reading because there are just so many books to choose from. Therefore, I also seldom re-read a book, although I have done so with a few. (So many books, so little time!) As Sir Francis Bacon famously said, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be ch

Perhaps you recall the famous lines about “the best laid plans of mice and men.” Often, the flow of “normal” life events tends to discombobulate those plans, and “catching up” afterward often takes longer than we anticipate or hope. What other responsibilities so demanded my attention that I had to resort to such drastic measures? The first was the arrival of the edited draft of my book manuscript. Since my editor was on a deadline, I had to put my review on a deadline. That

I was impressed the minute the man got out of his truck. My appreciation for him grew by the minute. When the installer arrived, two young boys exited his truck with him. I greeted them and said to the man, “I see you brought plenty of help with you today.” After returning my greeting and shaking hands with me, the installer said, “These are my grandsons. They’re shadowing me today to begin learning the trade.” He then turned to the boys and said in a low voice, “Introduce yo

It’s always been hard, it seems, to get “back in the swing” once I’ve been away for a while, and the week just past has been no exception. It’s hard enough returning to work, but it’s especially hard when that work is writing and one’s office is in his own home, as mine is. I also ate too much, and lot of what I ate was the wrong things. There was the traditional turkey and cranberry sauce, Daddy’s hot sausage dressing (I guess the Yankees call it “stuffing,” but it never was

On this date in history, several important events occurred. Columbus landed on San Salvador, discovering the New World in his quest to reach the East by sailing west. That event, of course, was first celebrated in the United States on this date in 1792. More than a hundred years later, the song “Three Blind Mice” was published in London. But that was by no means an earth-shattering, life-changing event, unless you were one of the three sightless rodents. And in 1859, Emperor

For several years, I had read various comments and articles about and notices and advertisements for the Write2Ignite Christian writers’ conference. They had generated enough interest that I determined that some day I would attend that conference. But every year the conference was scheduled, I always had some other pressing commitment and could not attend. Until this year. My slate was clean. Nothing was pressing. Nothing was in the way to prevent my going. To top it off, if

Growing up as a kid, I thought that all grandparents–not only my own but also those of my friends–were old. After all, they had white, silver, or gray (or graying) hair, wrinkles, arthritis, and assorted aches and pains, and they couldn’t get outside and play ball or tag with me. I loved Momma Graybeal and the horehound or peppermint stick candy she kept in a crystal dish on a cabinet behind her front door. And she always let me have a piece–for a price. I had to let her hug

Home. There’s nothing like it, especially when one is returning to it after a long vacation. It’s not just a general coming back home that makes the difference. It’s a return to familiar surroundings, to the sounds and smells that have become a regular part of one’s life. It’s the comfort of knowing where things are and of being able to go directly and automatically to that place without having to search for them. It’s the ease with which one does everyday things, like shavin

News Flash! Dateline North Carolina–Thurs., April 5, 2018 We’re grandparents again! Our daughter Rachelle gave us Number 7 yesterday morning. That makes five granddaughters and two grandsons. We’re not old enough for this! But the responsibilities are great. We’re praying to have a good influence on each of the seven grandkids. With the geographic distance, that’s more difficult, but. . . . We’ll do what we can and pray for opportunities. Late-Breaking News! Copyright (c) 201

More than two weeks (actually 18 days) have passed since my last blog post. I took a little hiatus from blogging so my wife and I could attend to the myriad activities and responsibilities of the holiday season. Many of those were planned, anticipated; a few were unexpected. By the time this Christmas rolled around and it was time to gather the family once again, there were five dogs and six grandchildren–with a seventh en route. One daughter and son-in-law who were having a

Snarled in stop-and-go holiday shopping traffic the other day, I complained aloud the oft-repeated refrain, “This traffic is moving along like Christmas!” Such statements, of course, refer to the perceived (especially by youngsters) slowness of recurring Christmases. But in the moments immediately following my exclamation, I had a fleeting thought and I exclaimed, “Oh, wait! That’s not true. Christmases seem to be coming more often and faster for some reason.” Could it be tha

Granddaughters were at the top of that list of reasons, of course. Three of our six grandkids live in that area, our most recent addition having just recently moved within driving distance. (A three-hour drive across the state border sure beats going all the way to Wisconsin!) We enjoyed each of them immensely–(according to age, oldest to youngest: Regan, Morgan, and Ryleigh). But we fully understand why God gives little kids to young, strong young people who can get along wi

Combine the need to keep a secret with a growing forgetfulness in the secret-keeper, and you have a potential major problem. That was my situation most of last week. I’ve already posted some comments about my worsening memory, so you know what’s coming. Or maybe you just think you do. I got a call from Daughter No. 1 early last week. She, her husband, and their nine-month-old daughter Ryleigh recently moved from Wisconsin’s frozen wastelands to the sunny, hot, and humid South