You’ve seen them in video arcades and every parent’s least favorite kid place, Chuck E. Cheese. Known in the business as “coin pushers”, they are the games which you drop a quarter or a token (that in the end will cost you way more than a quarter) into the slot in a strategic attempt to […]

Our parents said it to us at some point after we learned to talk. We say it to our kids at some point after they learn to talk. We hear it (or say it) when attitude takes on, well…an attitude. “Remember who you’re talking to.” I reminded my daughters of this the other day. All […]

As a kid I was blessed to live just down the road from all my Grandparents. My Dad’s parents lived a half mile away. My Mom’s folks were a whole 2 miles away. The close proximity allowed me to spend lots of time with all of them. When I was a kid I would play […]

My great uncle, L.D. Thompson, farmed with my Dad and my Grandfather in Iowa. L.D. was a kind and generous man, always helping his friends and neighbors. He also enjoyed playing a good practical joke, most often on those same friends and neighbors. It was sometime around 1951. L.D.’s cousin Burdette Carlson came out for […]

When I work in Roswell, New Mexico I always go to Sam’s Club to fill up my gas tank. Not to save a nickel a gallon, though that’s nice, too. I go in hopes that Bob will be on duty. It’s supposed to be a three hour drive from Lubbock to Roswell but it’s funny […]

“Remember…the first thing you do when you get to Fairmont is fill up with gas.” Dad handed me the keys to his 1978 Oldsmobile 98 Regency. “Yeah, Dad. I know. I’ll remember.” It was daylight when I left for Fairmont, the closest “big town” for us just across the Iowa state line into Minnesota. I […]

When’s the last time God stretched your ideas of what worship can look like? And whatever your idea of worship style is, when’s the last time you experienced something completely different? Perhaps more importantly, when’s the last time God stretched your thinking about how He can speak to you? I grew up in a Baptist […]

It was the most honest prayer request I’ve ever heard voiced in a church service. Marcelle and Oscar were a wonderful elderly couple in my church back in Chandler, Arizona. Their story was storybook. They met and married overseas during the war. She was a singer and performer in the USO, entertaining the troops and sharing the stage with […]

Last week I had a three hour layover at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. After a lunch, perusing the bookstores and a couple rides around on the tram, there was nothing to do but walk around. In Terminal E I noticed a small room designated as an airport chapel. A place for travelers to stop and think and pray. Just […]

Recently I read a compilation of actual prayers offered up to God by children. They were funny and refreshingly candid. Like Angela, age 8, who said, “Dear God, could you give my brother some brains? So far he doesn’t have any.” Or “Dear God, thanks for the nice day today. You even fooled the TV weather man.” […]

Years ago my good friend Fred told me about a delightful conversation he had with his then 3-year old grandson, Nathan. Nathan was just about to have another birthday. “Grandpa, I don’t want to be 4. I want to stay 3.” “Why is that?” “Because after you turn 4, then you turn 5.” “What’s wrong with […]

Take an evening stroll around the neighborhood this month and you’ll see a variety of nativity sets. Some are wood. Some are cardboard cut outs. Some are hollow painted plastic with light bulbs inside. Wherever you live, nativity sets all have the same figures. Mary and Joseph. Shepherds and wise men. Some animals. And of […]

It was fall of 1993. We had lived here only a couple months and were still finding our way around the valley. One late afternoon we discovered a Chinese restaurant somewhere in Mesa and had dinner there. When we were finished I went up to the counter to pay the check. After the cashier handed […]

Here in the Phoenix valley, conveniences abound. Drive three minutes in any direction from my house and you’ll find a Target, Wal-Mart, Costco, Home Depot, Discount Tire, and numerous large grocery stores. Not to mention the endless strip malls full of specialty shops. Anyone need to refurbish a Ford Mustang? Buy a dune buggy? Just […]

“Can you hold a second, please? Someone is beeping in.” We phrase it in the form of a question, but we aren’t asking. We’re telling. I silently wondered how he would respond if I said, “No, I can’t hold. “ “I’m back. Sorry. That was my wife again.” His wife had beeped in four times […]