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A New Foundation
“Maybe the foundation for a new Birmingham will [not] be in mortar and stone, concrete and steel, or industry and commerce, but rather in the memory [of] the innocent blood of these precious children of God.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) When four little girls were killed in the horrible bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist […]
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Frenemy Mine
“He who wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. Our antagonist is our helper.” (Edmund Burke) “Frenemy” is a portmanteau of “friend” and “enemy” that usually refers to a friend who is also a rival. Come to think of it, it might also be the best way to describe your boss, your […]
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Live to Laugh Another Day
“The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.” (H.G. Wells) We’ve all had one of those days. One kid breaks his leg. Another fails her science midterm. The car won’t start. You miss your flight, and you spill coffee all over your laptop. It happens. You probably won’t laugh at the time, but one […]
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Joy to the World
“We would never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world.” (Helen Keller) There are those rare, seemingly perfect days. Everything goes right. The socks come out of the dryer in pairs. You get every green light on the way to work. Your children ask to go to bed […]
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A Calm in the Storm
“Flowers never emit so sweet and strong a fragrance as before a storm. When a storm approaches thee, be as fragrant as a sweet smelling flower.” (Jean Paul Richter) When storms come our way — and they will if they haven’t already — we should do everything in our power to exude the kind of […]
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Polishing the Gem
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” (Chinese Proverb) Life is filled with joy. It is filled with love. It is filled with adventure. It is also filled with pain, with tribulation, and with trials. You simply can’t have one without the other, and — believe it or not — […]
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Giving Kids a Hard Time
“Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.” (Roger Lewin) We all know the old saying: “Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day; teach a man to fish, and he’ll never go hungry again.” The same is true for our kids…except it’s much harder to swallow. […]
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When Mom Has Cancer (Part 3)
Seven months ago, Sarah Holley was diagnosed with cancer. She’s learned a few lessons along the way that she is sharing in this series of articles. To read Part 1, click here. To read Part 2, click here. My family is a family of faith…faith in a real, living God. I simply cannot imagine going […]
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When Mom Has Cancer (Part 2): Give Kids Space
Seven months ago, Sarah Holley was diagnosed with cancer. She’s learned a few lessons along the way that she is sharing in this series of articles. To read Part 1, click here. Telling my kids that I had cancer was beyond difficult. At 16, 13, and 12, they’ve watched some of my dear friends walk […]
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Me and My Samoan
So Sunday night, Brandon and I watched 60 Minutes. His idea, not mine. They ran a story on the improbable number of Samoans in the NFL. There are something like 28 of them currently playing the highest level of football from a town of about 65,000 total people. According to the story, if a boy […]