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Well, Spring is tornado time, and in this past Spring there were some that just missed our area –killer tornadoes. The lives and places devastated hit a little close to home this time.
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You know it can't be good news when someone yells, "Everybody out of the water!" That's exactly what I heard the day I was in the water at the Jersey Shore. My first thought was Jaws. And since I didn't have my shark repellent, I got out pretty quickly.
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One of the milestone days of any kid's life is the day they get their driver's license. It's usually cause for great excitement and celebrating. It's been about a century, I think, since I first got my driver's license for that horse and buggy. But not long ago, I was a teenager again, celebrating getting my license. No, I hadn't lost it. The law didn't take it away. No, my license had expired, and the motor vehicle department had mailed my renewal form when my wife and I were on the road during a time of extended ministry.
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I used to think I didn't dream much. But I guess that's scientifically inaccurate. We all dream a lot, but some of us like me don't remember them. Now, my wife? She dreams in these Technicolor epics! I mean, I'm lucky if I remember a black and white short subject. Once in a while, though, I do remember a bad dream I've had. Not usually about monsters or murderers. I think you're going to laugh when I tell you about what a lot of my nightmares are about. Not being ready. Yeah, you know, stepping up to a microphone totally unprepared; having a huge audience waiting for me to speak in an auditorium and I'm backstage. They push me to go out. I'm being introduced. I have nothing ready to say.
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It was one of the dumbest things I'd done in a while. I know you find that hard to believe! I was involved in this intense ministry on Native American reservations. That wasn't dumb, but I was missing a lot of sleep and I decided to drive. That was dumb.
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A long time ago, my wife and I were vacationing in a mid-south state, and she convinced me to explore this back road. It was just marked "Erbie", whatever that is. It's a town I guess. And we never did get to see it, but we sure did drive a long way. Oh, the road was beautiful, it was bumpy, it was endless, but we had time. We were on vacation. We were having fun.
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My son is old enough to have kids of his own now, but we were looking at pictures of him when he was about three. We were in our back yard and we had just set up our tent. We were going to camp out in it that tent that night. Here was a little guy wanting to help his Daddy, so he played with the poles, held the flaps open on the tent door, he was so excited.
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It's a big deal when a child can finally start buying gifts with his or her own money. I remember one of the first gifts I was able to buy for my mother. It was a corsage for Mother's Day. I was doing this all on my own. I was so proud. I saved up my allowances, and I rode my bike about six blocks to the florist. I picked out these two carnations. I still remember - one pink, one white. And I made sure they put that little plastic bumble bee in with the flowers. And then I got on my bike and I held the white box on my handle bars. I was so proud of this gift, and then I hit a bump. In one very depressing moment, that white box went flying off the handle bars in front of my bike and I ran over it. So there I was, this forlorn little guy, bike on the ground, looking very sadly at my gift with a tire mark right down the middle.
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I think there's like this five-year-old kid that comes out in everybody when they get to Disney World. I'm going to have to confess that the little boy inside of me is still alive and well when I'm there, even though it's been awhile since I've been there. I mean, we did enjoy the times when our family visited the Magic Kingdom together some years ago. We've got the memories, we've got the photos. And, you know, now the next generation is taking their family!
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It was a dark cloud over the last Super Bowl Sunday, because the news had rocked Hollywood. It rocked Broadway, and then countless everyday folks who wouldn't forget the compelling characters that this actor had created on the screen. Academy Award-winning actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman, found dead in his apartment of a drug overdose at the age of 46.
