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May 5, 2023

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They call it the "terrible twos" (remember?) because of the new challenges a toddler presents when they hit that two-year mark and they issue their first declarations of independence. Now, I remember when our granddaughter was two years old and doing human "terribles." Maybe because there were a lot more "terrific twos." Now, one exciting thing was an incredible word explosion she had. Sometimes, she seemed to not only know the words, but even some pretty important meaning behind the words. She's been known to sit down right next to her daddy as he was reading his Bible with her Bible open. Now, she knew what the book was called. She would say "Bible." But more and more, when she picked up her Bible, she said two words that she knew went together, "Bible...Jesus."

April 26, 2023

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Our ministry was being honored with a gracious award from a Christian foundation, and it was named in honor of a visionary pastor in a major American city. Before his death some years ago, he'd been a powerful spiritual force in that city. But he didn't start out as a pastor. First, he was known and loved as a news anchorman for a major network station. On the night that changed his life forever, he went to cover a gang shooting. He reported at the spot where the killing had taken place. The chalk outline of the victim on the street was still behind him. He interviewed a gang member from the neighborhood and he asked him, "Have you ever thought about living another way; getting out of this cycle of violence?" It was this young man's answer that rocked him: "How can you think about another way to live when you've never seen another way to live?" It was a question that ultimately caused that anchorman to change the whole direction of his life.

April 6, 2023

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A close friend of ours was in China on family business. In the process, he had a wonderful opportunity to worship with some Chinese believers in a Sunday church service. It was a not-to-be-forgotten experience. They pointed him to something he didn't know existed in China - a Christian bookstore. It was the only one in this large city, and it's hard to find. It's stuffed into this very small space on the fourth floor of a nondescript building - but it's a Christian bookstore in China. Our friend commented in an email about the small number of Christian books that were available there in Chinese. In addition to books, they also had a small selection of Christian bookmarks and refrigerator magnets with verses or inspirational thoughts on them. And there was one fridge magnet that our friend absolutely could not, and cannot, get out of his mind. Here in the midst of this great city in this great land where Christians have paid such a price to follow Jesus was a magnet that simply said, "Pray for America." The only comment our friend had was this: "How humbling." I guess.

April 4, 2023

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Beep ball. Yep, I'd never heard of it until I received an email from a listener who told me she's blind. Beep ball sounds like fun, unless you're sighted like I am. Apparently, beep ball is a lot like softball except the bases beep. That helps the player know where the bases are or where the ball is coming from, if you have good ears; which, of course, blind people develop. The sighted people have to play blindfolded, and they just can't process the beeps like the blind players can. They're used to hearing more than a sound. They hear the direction of the sound. So the sighted people don't stand a chance playing beep ball!

March 27, 2023

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If the firstborn in a family is a girl, the younger children often end up with a bonus feature; they get two mothers instead of one! Big sisters are often happy to be another mother for her younger siblings, whether they're happy about it or not! But the instinctive motherly concern of a big sister came out loud and clear. It was in our three-year-old granddaughter some years ago. She had gotten a brand new baby brother whose life was pretty much eating and sleeping; mostly sleeping...until he needed something. And some friends were visiting our son and daughter-in-law, and there was a lot of talking and laughing going on. Suddenly, our little granddaughter said, "Shhhh. Shhhh, hear my brother crying." He was. And she was the only one who heard it.

March 7, 2023

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It's hard to believe there was a time when you had to be carried by someone in order to get anywhere, right? You know, there was a time when it was a major, major breakthrough for you to finally figure out how to move yourself places. Well, years ago, I had a chance to see our six-month-old granddaughter in that milestone struggle to figure out how to crawl. We stopped the presses when she had learned how to sit up by herself. Now, that's a good start. I mean, I'd been sitting on the living room carpet with her. (In fact, I recently learned to sit up by myself too!) Well, I lay down a few feet from her, I held a favorite toy on the rug in front of me, and I started drumming my fingers rhythmically on the carpet. She was definitely intrigued. And you could tell she really wanted to get to my fingers and to that toy. She finally figured out there was no easy way to get what she wanted. She managed to fall forward from her sitting position, get up on all fours, and then rock back and forth in neutral. She reached my direction with one hand. She was risking her delicate balance. Didn't quite make it. But I knew she would soo, because I knew she would eventually do whatever she had to do to get where she wanted to be.

March 1, 2023

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The Blob! Yeah, that's what they call this huge inflated pillow-like thing they have at this camp we use in our ministry. The Blob's in the water at the camp beach, just sitting there, daring someone to jump off the platform above and onto its bouncy launch pad. Shall we say, it's kind of a leap of faith. Yeah. See, one person jumps onto the Blob and then they clumsily scoot out to the end that extends into the lake. Then a second person makes the jump. And when they hit the Blob, you know, the force of their landing will literally launch the person on the end into the air and ultimately into the lake with a nice loud splash. For the launch to work, there can't be more than thirty pounds difference in the weights of the two Blobbers. Well, since our son is a pretty big hunk of a guy, he went most of the week without getting Blob-launched...until the campers convinced Frank, our other generous-sized leader, to try it with our son. Every person in the camp was at the beach at two o'clock to see this one, and we went out to support him. Our son made the jump and crawled to the end of the Blob. Then his counterweight friend made the jump. The camp erupted into cheers and gales of laughter as the force of Frank's landing sent our son into the air like a Cape Canaveral rocket! It was awesome!

February 22, 2023

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My wife and I were driving through a nearby town with some of our friends, and all of a sudden my wife says, "Stop!" She saw something, but what was it? Well, there was a gas station, there was a trash dumpster. She saw the top leaves of a plant sticking out of the dumpster. So we stopped and my friend who was driving got out with her. My wife said, "Hey! That would be great in our office." I said, "The dumpster?" She said, "No, the plant."

February 7, 2023

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At our house as the kids were growing up, you didn't have to wait for the Fourth of July to have fireworks. No. All you had to have was one of those days when one of my sons declined an assignment with these wonderful words, "Nah, that's women's work!" Oh, no! No, don't wait for the Fourth of July. No, my wife and daughter were nowhere near excited about that particular philosophy of life. They had a problem with that idea that there are certain jobs that a man is above. Actually, I have a problem with that idea. Actually, I think God has a problem with it.

January 31, 2023

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It wasn't easy being queen. So it should come as no surprise that monarchs like the late Queen Elizabeth would like to escape from London sometimes. In fact, one such occasion, the queen asked her chauffeur to take her for a ride in the country. Then she asked him to pull over so she could just take a little walk by herself. No crown, no gown - dressed down. So for these golden moments, the queen was just an ordinary lady, taking a walk in the country. She'd gone out about a mile down the road when this sudden rain shower opened up. The queen knocked on the door of a small hut that was nearby. She asked the lady if she had an umbrella. The lady actually had two umbrellas - a tattered, battered old umbrella and a brand new one. She gave her the beat up umbrella. This is the queen, but she doesn't know that of course. The queen promised it would be returned the next day. Well, you've got to imagine the scene as a uniformed chauffeur pulls up in the royal limousine, goes to the door of the hut the next day and announces, "I'm returning this for the queen." Needless to say, the woman was in shock. All she could say was, "If I had known it was for the queen, I would have given her my best!"

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