Tuesday, August 7, 2018

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When our son and his family lived in another state, man, we cherished visits from him, his wife and our beautiful granddaughter. She was two at the time, but she seemed to have the vocabulary of like a five-year-old. Besides being unexplainably beautiful (being my granddaughter, that's miraculous), she really knew how to communicate – with words, with gestures, with facial expressions. We loved our time with her, and she seemed to love her time with us. But, well, this wasn't home. They lived many miles from here. She needed to be home ultimately, sleeping in her bed, playing with her toys, being around the people she loves there, and enjoying her personal world. This is where she visited. That's where she lived. She was in the car with Mommy and Daddy, all strapped in her toddler seat and ready to pull out of the driveway to head home. Oh how she cried! She begged me to get in. She begged me to sit down. Her crying broke a grandparent's heart. But once she was home she loved being where she lived. It's just that leaving is so hard.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

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Driving is never more exciting than it is during a major snow storm. In fact it is so exciting, you ought to avoid it. Sometimes you just can't. I was scheduled to speak at this retreat in the Poconos Mountains one January weekend and a major snow storm moved in right on the Friday when everyone was supposed to be traveling to Pennsylvania from New Jersey. So I waited all day for the call, I was sure it was going to come. "Sorry, it's been cancelled." Oh, I got the call; yeah, they were still going. And by that time it was dark, it was snowing very impressively and I got on the Interstate. I traveled at a very reduced speed and it looked almost impossible to make it until I spotted my friend up ahead. Well, my friend the snow plow. He was clearing a lane as he went. So I just fell in right behind Mr. Snow plow and followed him through the storm all the way to the Pennsylvania line. Oh, that works!

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

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Over the years it's been an honor and a pleasure to speak for a lot of professional football chapels. You should have seen me with the New York Giants. I was like the New York dwarf! Hey, listen, I'm tall inside okay. Their "thank you" for speaking was two tickets for the game; great seats reserved for the chapel speaker – midfield under cover. Of course, any time you go to a public event like a game or a concert or a show, you hope for great seats. On occasion, I've even looked up a seating chart for the facility where an event was being held so I knew what seats to ask for. Unfortunately, well, you've got to pay a little for the best seats, but you get a view that most folks can't see.

Friday, July 13, 2018

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If you ask our kids about four or five of the most indelible memories from their childhood, I think at least one is bound to bring up the night of the hurricane. Some friends had offered their home on Eastern Long Island; we could use it for our vacation. I wonder if they had advance word that Hurricane Belle would make it all the way up the East Coast that week and smack Long Island right on the chin? Thankfully, the home we were in was on a cliff above the ocean so we didn't have to evacuate. But we made all the appropriate preparations. We loaded up on batteries and candles, stored water in the bathtub, and lined the freezer with newspaper in case the power went out. The leading winds of the hurricane started blowing in about bedtime that night, and I mean, you could hear it howling around our bedrooms upstairs. The kids were pretty unnerved (including this kid). So, we all moved out of our rooms to the downstairs living room. We laid out some sleeping bags, and we slept side by side together in the living room. The kids loved it! They actually said, "Hey, Dad, hurricanes are fun!" Really?

Thursday, June 28, 2018

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My friend Rich had just come through a major battle with cancer with heavy radiation therapy, and that's what helped him win. The only problem was the radiation left him feeling pretty weak and depleted. So, he would work a short week at his business and then he'd retreat to this little cabin that he and his wife had way back in the woods. One day Rich was down by the stream and feeling pretty tired. So, he lay down right there by the water and fell asleep. When he woke up, he was startled by what he saw. There were vultures circling him! Yeah! Now, you wouldn't believe how quickly Rich got up! I can just imagine him shouting to the vultures, "Hey, you birds, I may look dead to you, but I am still alive!"

Thursday, June 14, 2018

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There is no way we could have taken our "On Eagles' Wings" team of young Native Americans across Alaska without the help of our wonderful missionary partner Grant. He made the arrangements for us in village after village, helped fly us across the area, and took on much of the follow-up. Grant is a pilot. You almost have to be when the villages you serve are often hundreds of miles from the nearest road. Now, you can imagine how hard it hit us when we heard that another pilot had crashed and totaled the plane that Grant's ministry depended on. This was some years ago, but we still remember it. I mean, miraculously, no one was seriously injured, but Grant was without a plane and without any funds to replace it there for a while.;

Monday, June 11, 2018

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In every sport, and in every season, there is always that one event that everyone calls "The Big Game". And it's not unusual for real champions to rise to the challenge and put in a powerful performance – so much so that they absolutely cream the other team! But there is also a strange phenomenon that often follows the Big Game – it's called the Big Letdown. It's amazing how a team that has just buried another great team can go into their next game all flat and sloppy. It's not uncommon for the winner of the Big Game to go into that next game – often against a much lesser opponent - and they look terrible - they lose miserably. They literally go right from powerful to pitiful.

Thursday, June 7, 2018

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I had the TV on while I was getting ready to go somewhere, and I caught a snatch of a TV talk show. The host was interviewing a former FBI agent - a man who had successfully infiltrated the Mafia and had been responsible for some major indictments. Now, in his underground life, he was, as you might expect, surrounded by cocaine. The talk show host asked the FBI man, "Did you ever have to use cocaine to maintain your cover?" Good question. Well, after all, his life depended on his fitting in. But he answered that question with a firm "No". The host said, "How did you avoid having to use cocaine?" I liked his answer. In fact, it might even help you where you're feeling the pressure to fit in.

Thursday, May 31, 2018

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Some longtime friends dropped by for a visit and they told us a moving story of what had happened to their son. Tom had been a missionary pilot in Mexico - one of those spiritual heroes, I think, who take the Gospel and God's help to places where it could otherwise never go, including a mountain village in Mexico where the pilots have been God's instruments to launch a mighty work for Christ. And then came the crash. With three missionary pilots and several passengers aboard, a defect in their plane's almost new engine caused a terrible crash. Tom was one of those who survived that crash that could very well have killed everyone. The villagers who loved them actually traveled hours to reach them and rescue them. Tom's body was really badly shattered, and his recovery was long, grueling. But then he was flown back to the area where he ministered. His parents really choked up, and so did we, when they told us what happened as he got off the plane. There to greet him was a crowd of cheering Mexican friends. And they were holding a banner that simply said "Welcome home, Captain Tom!"

Friday, May 18, 2018

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I think some of our best family memories are from our camping vacations. See, we got real close - I mean, literally - sleeping together in our little tent. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, great outdoor-cooked meals, a peaceful environment, and living by the sun. Of course, there are a few downsides - like those very dark nights in very dark campgrounds.

I can remember our boys' ambivalence to walk to the bathroom on nights like those. They had the need to use the facilities and that was undeniable, but the dark path and the dark woods...well, they were scary, especially knowing there were bears in those woods. But one thing would un-paralyze them - when they reached up in the dark and found my hand. Once they were holding their father's hand, you know what? They could keep walking into the darkness.