There once was a boy named Fred. Fred’s parents were concerned about him. Fred was 8 years old and had never spoken. His parents started being concerned when he was 1 or 2 and he had not ever babbled or made a sound. They took him to doctors, hearing specialists and speech pathologists who all
There was once a very rich man, who knew he was about to die. He had millions of dollars in stock, bonds and real estate. Since he knew his time was near, he had his assets converted into gold bars, placed in a big trunk, laid down on the trunk and while lying there, he
There once was a young man who said he loved a certain young lady. They had been dating for 6 months. They talked of love and even used the “M word”-marriage. One night, this young man was about to go out with a few other friends. They were preparing to leave. He actually had his
About a year ago, both of our adult sons, Aaron and Adam were visiting in our home. They have their own internal clocks which keep them awake long after their father (me), has gone to bed. They are up at all ungodly hours of the night, like 10:30 or 11:00 PM. One night, in their
In a classic Seinfeld episode, Jerry is dating a girl named Audrey, whose father owns Poppi’s-an Italian restaurant. Audrey proudly takes Jerry to Poppi’s to experience her father’s cooking. When Jerry meets Poppi, Poppi says, “I am a personally going to prepare a wonderful meal for you and my Audrey.” But trouble begins. Jerry goes
The Ugly Duckling, is the story of a swan egg accidentally ending up in a duck’s nest. All of the mother duck’s eggs hatch, except for this larger swan egg. Finally it hatches and the mother wonders if this strange looking bird is a turkey. But when the mother saw her unusual duckling in the water,
I need to make a confession. I like going to Starbucks. I know-not bad, at least not by “confession” standards. I never had a cup of coffee until I was over 40. Then someone gave me coffee ice cream, and from there, that led to Starbucks and now this public confession. I like Starbucks! I
May 18, 1980. Can you remember where you were May 18, 1980? Some of you were not alive, while some old timers might say, “Why that seems like only yesterday”. May 18, 1980 was the day Mt. St. Helens erupted. Mt. St. Helens is a volcano in Washington state, and until that day in
Cartoon father, Homer Simpson had not seen his born again, religious neighbor Maude Flanders for some time. Frankly, I am not sure if he really missed her. Her always cheerful, sunny outlook and her husband, Ned, clearly annoyed Homer. The sweet sugarcoated perkiness of their kids stood in sharp contrast to Homer’s son, Bart and
Hope-hope is the expectation of good. Hope is joyful confidence. How much hope would you have if you were doing a life sentence in prison? If you knew you might not ever be outside prison walls again? When I pastored in Ohio, a church member sent one of my sermon tapes to a young man they
