It Is Finished

How much longer? Maybe you have a countdown app on your phone, or you place a big “X” on the calendar every day. Sometimes it can’t just get here soon enough. A birthday, graduation, retirement, or getting out of a cast/quarantine can make time feel like it is...

You’re Not the Boss of Me!

Imagine an older child telling a younger, “You need to clean up your room.” Would it surprise you if the younger said, “You’re not the boss of me!” Have you heard this same conversation? This “conversation” is a microcosm of the world at large today. Everyone wants to...

Bless Your Heart

I detest running. When I think of people who say they enjoy it, I say to myself, “Bless their heart.” I thought that same thing about the drill instructor long ago who told us we were in a hurry, so we would only run for 45 minutes. Why did the military compel us to...

I Am an American…

The first article of the Code of Conduct is, “I am an American fighting in the forces that guard my country and our way of life, I am prepared to give my life in their defense.” The heart of the Code is love. Dying for the country is love. In John 15:13, Jesus says,...

Reading Between the Lines

Have you ever been told, “Read between the line.”? Sometimes it is a subtle social cue, like not being invited to a wedding. Other times it is painfully obvious, like someone making a statement by wearing white after labor day…. Do we need to read between the lines to...

Fickle Fate

A long time ago, an English teacher taught her class rare words we would never use again. One of those words was “capricious.” When we couldn’t guess the meaning, she defined it for us. What strikes me about “capricious” is that “fickle” can replace it in most...

We Can’t Keep Quiet

 Air Force’s first core value is, “Integrity First.” Every airman was required to learn what it meant. Two of the better definitions were: doing what is right even if no one is watching, and doing what is right even when it hurts. It takes courage to live with...

Come and See for Yourselves!

A friend from Germany visited Penelope, Texas. She had seen a map and intellectually understood that towns in Texas were separated by miles and miles. She did not truly understand it until she saw how long and empty the road was between Birome, Leroy, Penelope, and...

Good Enough for Government Work

Lowest cost, technically acceptable. That is what we were told to look for, and it bothered me. The meaning of “good enough for government work” has really gone downhill. It now means as cheap as possible and barely able to do the job. The Bible is not the product of...

On the Outside Looking In

Not everyone gets included. Someone has to be picked last for kickball in PE class. Some kids don’t have parents to provide for them, much less buy them gifts for birthdays or Christmas. The weird guy at work is isolated because he is the topic of conversation, not a...

New Testament

God Has a Better Plan

God Has a Better Plan

Two thousand years ago, Elizabeth wanted children. In her culture, children were her priority. She didn’t have any, therefore others looked down on her. Her society wrote her off as too old to be a successful Jewish woman. She was too old to have children. She was...

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Greek Yogurt Is Terrible

Greek Yogurt Is Terrible

Johnny stood, mouth open in disgust. “It gets stuck between your teeth, is too tough to chew, and tastes like day-old Dr. Pepper. Greek yogurt is yucky!” He wrinkled his nose even thinking about it. Jen paused her spoon an inch from her open mouth. “Have you ever...

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Come and See!

Come and See!

Nurses just know. They’ve been there, done that. They say, “Just slap a bandaid on it and stop complainin’!” But that same gruff nurse who blows off our ouches and owies as an annoyance will soften like butter in the warm, Texas sun when confronted with a patient who...

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Old Testament

Change Is Tough

Change Is Tough

The Air Force provides a lot of training, very little of it on a volunteer basis. One of the trainings I took was in “Change Management.” It may have had a different, more military sounding name, something like “Non-linear Progression of Leadership Requirements” but I...

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The A-Team

The A-Team

When the Air Force stationed my dad overseas, the only real disadvantage of living “on the economy” was a lack of US TV programs. If you lived close enough to base, you could watch the Armed Forces Network, but we lived too far away. Somehow, one of the American...

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