Towns in these parts have international names. There is Paris, Detroit, Bogata, New Boston (and Old Boston), Naples, Atlanta, and Omaha, to name a few. Perhaps they were named by those who founded them based on the places they had once called home. Perhaps they believed that if they gave a town a noble name,…
Author: Gene
But I am Poor and Needy
But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay. Psa. 70:5 (NKJV) I saw him again today, this frail old man, dirty, heavily bearded, hollow-eyed and gaunt. He sits on the median of a busy intersection near my home, holding…
The Law of the Jungle and the Law of Christ
Galatians 6:2,5 (NKJV) Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ… For each one shall bear his own load. From Rudyard Kipling’s timeless classic, The Jungle Book, comes this morsel of wisdom: “Now this is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky; And the Wolf…
Marriage: What No One Tells You, But Everyone Should Know
Listen up, kids. Dr. Love is in the house. I am here to give you the real scoop on this thing called marriage, so pay attention. Seriously, though. Donya and I went to a movie for the first time in umpteen years last Friday night. We thought that new Vince Vaughn flick, Couples’ Retreat, would…
It’s In the Game: Confessions of a Football Junkie
My dad once said to me, “Son, if they were to open up your head and examine your brain, they’d find it shaped like a football.” He wasn’t necessarily wrong. Just about as long as I can remember, I have been in love with the game of football. I don’t really know why. I have…
Pretty Bubbles in the Air
There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.Prov. 13:7 (NKJV) Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Tim. 6:6 (NKJV) Yesterday, an old tune my Dad used to sing came to mind. It is a lovely tune, one I thoroughly enjoyed hearing…
Pieces of Me
Tossing about in the bed last night, chasing the elusive slumber I so desperately sought, my mind wandered back to the places I have been and people I have seen the past couple of weeks. Weekend before last, Donya and I flew to Texarkana, Arkansas to spend a couple of days. There is only one…
Sweet Escape
(Reprinted from 2003) Do you remember the Chevrolet Tahoe commercials from a few years ago, the ones featuring a poemread by James Garner? The first time I heard the poem, I was smitten. I hadto find out who wrote it, where it came from. I kind of thought it might bea Dr. Seuss offering I…
How To Spend a Life
If love is what I get from You Then you can bet I’ll give it too Cause all I really want to do Is spend my lifetime loving you. When friends all leave or fade away And the sun still shines on another day Just know that I am here to stay And spend a…
Thoughts on Human Nature, Limitations, Predispositions, and Rising Above
The more I observe life and the lives of others and – when I am brave enough for self-observation – my own life, the more I believe that we are what we are by the force of our own nature, much more than any nurture we have received. Plenty of people have risen above their…