We live in a day where children think that life revolves around them – their wants, their desires, their self esteem, their entitlements, their rights – everything is about them, for them, because of them, and revolves around them. They are not disciplined or taught to respect authority. They come into the world giving orders and making demands. No one tries to mold their little minds and shape their little…
With ISIS on the warpath, driving families from their homes, the Arabs firing rockets into Israel and Israel returning fire, people in the Middle East are suffering tremendously. Many of these people don’t know what it’s like to live without fear. Fear of rockets flying by. Fear of bombs exploding around them. Fear for their safety. Fear that a loved one will be killed. They struggle to find food and…
Isaiah 55:8 says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” God’s ways are not our ways, so we don’t always understand why things happen the way they do. In June of 1994, Floyd landed in the hospital on the verge of a massive heart attack. After a series of tests, they did an angioplasty on him, which opened a blocked artery,…
I just started a new job, working as an EA (educational assistant) substitute for a local school district. You would think as a substitute, my job calls would be sporadic, but every day I’m working somewhere. There are ten schools in the district. In a five-day school week, I worked at three different schools and have already had a snow day. It’s a lot like starting a new job every…
I’ve worked off and on throughout my life, and I’ve held different types of jobs. I was a dental technician in the Air Force. I’ve worked at Meijer in the toy department. I’ve done custodial work. I worked for two years as a teacher at a Christian school, but the most daring job I ever held was at a local bus company. I knew the owners because they were faithful…
When I was in high school, I had a friend who never let me finish a sentence. Now my mother had taught me not to interrupt, and it took me years to internalize that lesson. And by high school, I had learned that lesson well. So when Lynn interrupted me, I stopped talking and let her say what she wanted. Once she was through, I continued, but the moment I…
My entire life I’ve battled poor equilibrium. At age 3, I was hospitalized to find out why I wasn’t walking. When I was 12, my balance was so bad I could not stand still. I had to keep moving to keep from falling over; kind of like a guy on a unicycle. I served in the military but couldn’t march because of my balance. Then I got married and had…
Floyd and I were in the car tonight talking about our youngest daughter, Michelle. She can’t keep secrets. If you tell her a secret that you expect her to keep, that’s simply not going to happen. She’ll ask me, “What did you get Dad for his birthday?” “I can’t tell you. You’ll tell him.” “No, I won’t. I promise. I can keep secrets.” I know she can’t, but it’s fun…
For the majority of my children’s lives, I was a stay-at-home mom. So I was almost always there. But my daughter, Jamie, didn’t have that same luxury. She had to work to survive, to help pay bills, to help make ends meet. And I was the most affordable childcare provider available to her. She did, in fact, pay me to watch her two little boys, although I considered it more…
I attended a two year community college, where I majored in journalism. As a writer, I found it important to use good grammar. But my grammar usage wasn’t always the best, so my newspaper advisor often corrected me. When he corrected me, I corrected my statement and continued talking. It wasn’t long before I started correcting myself. “Me and Cheree think that…” Pause. “Cheree and I think that…” Then after…