View this email in your browser Where’s the Lone Ranger When You Need Him? I love the old TV program The Lone Ranger. I still watch the reruns. If you’ve been a reader for any ength of time, you know I love old western TV shows and movies. I grew up on them. I guess one reason I enjoy them is the bad guys always get what’s coming to them, and that is justice. On a couple of occasions, the Lone Ranger was called Justice or Mr. Justice. He rode upon his white steed and always arrived at the...
13 days ago • 2 min read
View this email in your browser Outside the Lines School time! Ahh, the smell of pencils, crayons, and stinky gym clothes! When our now-grown darling school-goers were very young, we all, as parents, gave them crayons and coloring looks to teach them their colors, to learn to color within the lines, and to learn structure. Remember those early pictures your babies colored, the ones that ended up on your fridge? They consisted of a multitude of colors or a beautiful monochromatic look of...
20 days ago • 2 min read
View this email in your browser The Journey of Battered Soul (I hope you don’t mind. This post is from six years ago, but I felt led to repost it.) This is the journey of Battered Soul, searching for love, rest, and peace... Gaping wounds of vengefulness and scars of disdain covered his body from the rocks of insults and hatred hurled at him by others. He never knew where he belonged. He never felt welcomed or comfortable, even in his own family. All the weight of adversity dragged him down,...
27 days ago • 2 min read
View this email in your browser Smeared Glasses Ackk! My glasses are smeared again! I reach for my specially-treated, purple cloth and wipe off the smearies. How does that stuff get there? Always amazes me that it just appears. Usually, I don’t notice that my glasses are dirty, and I don’t realize I’m squinting. The change is so subtle that it’s overlooked. Sometimes, I get a headache. After removing the film and spots from my glasses, my eyes relax and I can see better. As Trapper John once...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
View this email in your browser Jesus Still Walks the Waves Dear storm-tossed soul, this is for you... Jesus still walks the waves. At times, roseate light can fill life, filling us with joy and thanksgiving, and at other times, life’s ashen clouds darken our surroundings, pouring out their contents and bringing us heartache, pain, discouragement, and challenges. In those times, seeing only Jesus as our source of all help, encouragement, strength, guidance, and answered prayer will carry us...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
View this email in your browser The Tour Bus Come along with me for a tour bus ride… A man moves to a new city. He decides to take a tour bus ride to see his new surroundings, to allow a guide to show him the unexplored community he has joined. The man climbs onboard the bus and takes a seat. No one else is on the bus; it’s a private charter. So, the man settles back in his seat, anticipating a pleasant journey. As the guide drives, the man watches out his window as breathtaking scenes glide...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
View this email in your browser Happy BIG Birthday, America (and me)! Our country’s birthday! This one is a BIGGY! (And so is mine. I will hit the 8-0 mark on July 5th. My spiritual birthday is also this month. 69! Yay! The other day, I thought back to 1976, when we celebrated our country’s 200th birthday... I thought about…the great bicentennial and watching on television all the awesome festivities, which included an international fleet of tall ships in New York City’s harbor and the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
View this email in your browser Lean in a Little Closer This story has been passed around, so I do not know who to attribute it to. Maybe you’ve even heard it or read it. It’s about a young man and an old preacher. A young man lost his job and didn’t know which way to turn. So he went to see the old preacher. Pacing about the preacher’s study, the young man ranted about his problem. Finally, he clenched his fist and shouted, “I’ve begged God to say something to help me, preacher, why doesn’t...
2 months ago • 2 min read
View this email in your browser Fear of the Deep End! Gasping for air. Swallowing water with each breath. Reaching for anything to grab onto.Going under for the third time in water depths twice my little height. Frightened beyond words.Will anyone notice? Around the age of eleven, I was with some friends at the pool. In the deep end of the pool, some of the older kids played a game with other kids on their shoulders. Probably playing “chicken.” One of the older girls asked if I would get on...
2 months ago • 2 min read