Download MP3 (right click to save)
Our youngest son had an interesting method of weight control. He would eat what he wanted for a while, and then suddenly he would reverse all engines for a day or two. He would announce, "Today is a Slim Fast day!" That means drink diet milk shakes three times a day. Now, when you like to eat, drinking all three meals, I'm sorry, that's not very satisfying.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Some friends of ours were staying in a basement apartment, and they invited us to their place for dinner. So, here I was seated with my wife and our friends and suddenly the lights went out, and the skillet went out. Well, we thought about getting out the candles and having a romantic candlelight dinner. But we decided we should do something more practical-check the circuit breakers. And sure enough, the extra cooking had put an overload on a circuit that doesn't usually get that much activity. So, the circuit breaker did it's very important job. It stopped the flow of electricity so we would not melt down.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Our oldest son grew up Mr. Suburban Boy, and he has a very sensitive nose. Okay, those are the two reasons he has never enjoyed a ride through farm country in the spring. Especially after the farmers have fertilized their fields the, shall we say, natural way. It smells, but it works! Like compost; all this dead and decaying stuff mounded up in a pile? Time does not improve the aroma of that, but you put that stuff on your garden and great things are going to grow. The stink? That's not very nice, but what grows from it sure is.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
We were in Phoenix on a ministry trip, and the last thing I expected was to be leaving something there when we were ready to come back. But we did, or rather my wife did. She decided to leave her gall bladder there. She had unexpected major surgery about 2,500 miles from home. I thought I was going to be back to my office, of course, that week. And I needed all kinds of files and reports urgently. So, I asked our office to mail me my office overnight while my wife is getting the surgery we hadn't expected. So they boxed everything up and sent it by a mail service that guarantees "next day delivery" by 10:30 A.M. So, the next morning I happened to be talking on an outdoor pay phone (Remember those?) when the truck pulled up. The driver made a mad dash toward me, handed me my package breathlessly, and I looked at my watch-10:27 A.M.! They're good! I was impressed. Just in time, but in time.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Hurricane Andrew! You say that to someone in South Florida and they are likely to have a story to tell you. The Miami area took one of the century's hardest hurricane hits when Andrew landed there. Home after home was devastated by the brutal force of what was a killer storm. But some friends in Florida told me something very interesting. They said that in an area where many homes went down in Andrew's fury, there were certain homes that withstood the storm. Here's what they had in common. They had been built by that Christian agency Habitat for Humanity. Apparently they had used the best materials, they used the best design and the best hands they could find to build those homes. And when the storm was over, they were still standing firm.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
I have a friend who seems like every winter he reminds me, "January is my bad month." I thought, "Well, does he get the credit card slips from Christmas, or what?" He said, "No, my biorhythms are always down in January. I feel unmotivated; things go wrong." I don't spend a lot of time with him in January.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Buttermilk Falls is a beautiful spot! That's what I had been told, and I was always open for a great new spot to go for a Sunday afternoon drive with the kids. So we drove out to the country and set out to discover the beauty of Buttermilk Falls. I did have to stop and ask directions a couple of times; I guess a lot of people didn't know where this great spot was.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
During the summer our family loved going to Ocean City at the Jersey Shore. Now, there's about a two and a half, three mile boardwalk there. And I'll tell you, it's interesting to just sit there and watch the people parade go by. You'll see some guys parade along with torn shirts or real mini t-shirts displaying those bulging muscles, their arms, their chest, their back. I don't do that. No, I sort of cover up as much as I can.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
If you've ever given a child a helium balloon, you know you had better tie it to something or you're going to have a heartbroken kid pretty soon! That crazy balloon will just float away and slowly disappear into the sky, and you will have a crying child pointing at the sky and expecting you to somehow get up there and retrieve it.
Download MP3 (right click to save)
Back when my sons were teenagers, they both owned a watch, but you would never know it if you looked at their wrist most of the time. Oh they owned a watch; they seldom wore it. Maybe that's typical of teenage boys. I guess kids live blissfully oblivious to time much of the time. Now some people depend on their cell phone, but you've got to pull that out and check it, and I do like to have it on my wrist. A lot of times our boys would have to ask what time it was, and most of the time they would ask a parent.
