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Friday, January 4, 2008

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It's one of the most popular convention locations in the United States - Las Vegas. We can each guess as to what some of the reasons for its popularity might be. But it's become a popular destination for people other than conventioneers. A recent advertising campaign is offering Las Vegas as the place to go if you want to get away with something. Using some scenes that suggest some covert relationships and secret romantic liaisons, the tantalizing promise that flashes across the screen simply says: "What you do here stays here." Wrong!

Thursday, January 3, 2008

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Usually a total eclipse of the moon seems to happen when I'm counting sheep in the middle of the night. But this one started about 9:00 at night, and this one I got a chance to see. It's a pretty amazing sight to watch that shadow slowly move across the moon until it eventually covers it completely. I said to the friend who was assisting us with ministry that weekend, "I just wish we had binoculars." "Me, too," he said. Then it dawned on him, "Hey, I do have binoculars in my truck!" All of a sudden we moved from seats near the back to something like front row seats on the eclipse. Those binoculars revealed the craters and all the fascinating details of that disappearing moon. What a difference it made to see it up close!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

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It's not much fun to perform without an audience. Toddlers believe that for sure. Our family was having one of those rare opportunities to have all of us together, and we were having some great conversations, keeping one eye on our little two-year-old granddaughter. And one eye wasn't enough for her. Using her recently enhanced motor skills, she started running wide circles right in the middle of the room. After her first two spins—which did manage to get our attention—she called out two little words I didn't even know she knew, "Watch this!" We did.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

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One little light. That's all it took to render our car totally unusable. The little light in the rear of our vehicle was left on one night after we unloaded some things, and it stayed on for several days while we were gone. When we got back, everything in that car said, "I'm not starting, pal!" because that one little light totally drained our battery, of course. But then came the hero - our friend in his pickup truck with his trusty jumper cables. And those cables delivered the energy that my flat old battery needed to run again!

Monday, December 31, 2007

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Flowers are always special. They just seem even more special in the winter. A lady who works in my end of our ministry offices had some flowers on her desk. I stopped by to pick up some work, and there I saw these beautiful flowers in a vase. That's pretty significant. After all, how many times do the words "man" and "notice" ever go together in the same sentence, right? I actually noticed a few more times as I hustled down the hall past her door. Then I actually put on the brakes for a moment and I stuck my head in to smell the flowers on her desk. It wasn't worth the stop. No smell. They're fake!

Friday, December 28, 2007

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I just don't understand why this beautiful girl at college didn't have love at first sight. When she met me, that is. It wasn't even love at second sight, or tenth sight. We met at college, and it wasn't as if she was exactly holed up in her room studying all the time. She was very active socially - especially in dating some of the most sought-after guys on campus. I knew getting her wasn't going to be easy. So I carefully planned my comings and goings so I would be places that I thought she would be. I thought about things I could say that might impress her, and I ultimately let her know that I had more than a casual friendship in my mind. There were challenges, but there was no way I was going to lose her. I loved her, I relentlessly pursued her, and I got her! And what a wonderful life we have had together!

Thursday, December 27, 2007

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When Queen Elizabeth was growing up - then Princess Elizabeth - she always knew that one day she would be queen. It wasn't that way with Queen Victoria. When she was young, she actually was shielded from the fact that she would be the next ruling monarch of England. They didn't want her to grow up spoiled. But finally her teacher did let her discover for herself that she would one day be Queen of England - the most powerful monarch in the world at that time. Victoria's response was simple: "Well, then I will be good!" She understood that she needed to live her life based on her royal position.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

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Our grandson is loving kindergarten. He loves learning and he loves the friends he's making there. In fact, there've been very, very few bad moments since he started school. But a couple of weeks ago, there was one. His teacher had to leave early that day, so for the afternoon she put him in an art class with older students. He was the only "little kid," you know, in the room. That was okay as long as the art teacher was there, but it suddenly wasn't okay when she left the room for a short time. The older kids started to pick on him verbally and say the mean kinds of things that school kids are all too good at saying. That night, our grandson was in bed and mom was there to sing and pray with him. As he debriefed his day, he talked about the mean things the older kids had said. But amazingly, he didn't seem angry with them. He said, "Mommy, I know why those kids are mean. It's because they don't have Jesus in their heart." The next day he took action on that insight. He took little bags of candy to those kids with a little Gospel booklet inside.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

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The Christmas tree has always been a big deal at our house. The boys go on our annual pilgrimage to pick it out. Then we have the annual decorating ceremony, and we're pretty good at it if I do say so myself. The lights, the beautiful decorations accumulated over the years, the bright star on the top. Our Christmas tree is the center of our family life all during the Christmas season, and then comes January. The decorations come off and the tree comes down. After which, I unceremoniously carry it out to the curb for the garbage man to dispose of. The ugly secret is painfully obvious that day. Even though that tree has been glowing with decorations, it was dead all along!

Monday, December 24, 2007

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It was the biggest event of the year in the little town of Cornwall. It was the annual Christmas pageant, staring many of the people of the town. When it came time for casting the various parts, every parent wanted their son or daughter to be included, of course. On audition day, it didn't take long to match every part with just the right person. But then there was Harold. The little guy really wanted a part, but because of his learning disabilities, the directors kept passing him over. But Harold just kept popping up again, asking for a part. Finally, the directors gave in and they gave him what they judged to be a no-risk part - the innkeeper who comes to the door and tells Mary and Joseph the inn is full. It was a part with only one simple line. Little did they know that the stage had been set for the most memorable Christmas pageant they had ever seen.

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