Tag Archives: Hope

Babies, children, Faith, Family, grandchildren, Grandparents, Hope, Humility, life, priorities, relationships

Dear Asher,

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You are a complete joy to our family!  

You were born during the COVID pandemic, a time when people had more fear and anxiety than intelligence and common sense.  The day you were born, JJ and I met your mama and dad in front of the hospital at 5:00 AM. We took a quick picture, then JJ and I sat outside in the parking lot with an eye on the room where your mama would be after you were born.  

It seemed like forever, but it really wasn’t very long before your dad texted.  He came to the fourth-floor window of the hospital and held you up in his arms.  It was too far away to see you, but we knew that both you and your mom were fine.  Moreover, we loved you instantly! 

Since that December day two and a half years ago, you’ve grown like a weed. Really, you’ve grown too fast, little man. One day you’ll look back on time and know what I mean.      

Such is life, Asher.  It is but a vapor, here today, gone tomorrow.

Some days, particularly when you are young, drag by.  But if the Lord extends grace and you grow old, the same days will fly by.  Treasure each one. Every day is a gift.  Every moment is a living treasure.

There’s no way to say all I want to share, so let me whittle it down to just a few things I feel impressed to tell you.

Continue reading Dear Asher, →
death, dying, Faith, Family, Health, Hope, life, Uncategorized

April 4, 2024

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It’s the day I’ll be the exact same age as my dad when he died. 

I figured out the date 10 years ago.  It’s been on my work bulletin board ever since. 

Now it’s less than a year away, 47 weeks to be exact. 

It’s not a day to worry about, just be aware of.

Maybe I’ll take off.   

Maybe I’ll go fishing at a nearby lake at the dam, a place where the turmoil of the released water churns up choppy white waters until finally slowing to a gentle roll farther downstream.

Maybe the day itself will feel like that. I don’t know.

Is it any coincidence my thyroid is acting up now?  Possibly the beginning of a hypothyroid with a plausible diagnosis of Hashimoto Thyroiditis. 

That’s what’s on my dad’s death certificate. The doctors tell me Hashimoto’s doesn’t cause death.

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Faith, Family, Hope, kindness, life, mental illness, story

Blue Plastic Egg

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Saturday I was on a mission to pick up Janet at the end of the day at a Houston airport.  

I stopped to get her dinner and sat in front of the second Chick-fil-A drive through line waiting on my order. 

It’s always the same, no matter where you go.  They bring it out and ask your name to confirm the order while handing it to you.  I say, “Thank you.”  They say, “My pleasure.” 

Normally, I’m itching to get it and roll on.  This time though, I wanted to just sit and watch.

A guy walked out of Chick-fi-A with a coke in his hand.  His pants were a size too big, his belt missed a loop or two, and his shirt peculiarly looked like it was from the 1960s. 

He didn’t have on ear buds, and he wasn’t on a phone, so he was definitely talking to himself. 

He stopped at the crosswalk talking away, as if an imaginary person was sitting on his shoulder.  He didn’t bother looking either way. He just stepped out in the drive area, staring at the ground. 

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Beach, children, Family, grace, grandchildren, Hope, life, love, parents, Time, vacation

Clear Skies

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Alone.

Yet, not.

Large families.

There are 33 people on the wall. Kids, kids-of-heart, grandkids, Janet, myself.

There’s always something going on in a big family. Someone’s always around, nearby, or on the way.

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dreams, Employment, Family, Hope, inspiration, life, retirement, Truth, Work

A New Life Chapter

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His solid white beard was perfectly trimmed.  Occasionally, when he was trying to describe something, he’d take off his company cap and run his fingers through his full, thick head of equally white hair.  It was a stark contrast to his deep black, wire-rim glasses.

Today’s his last day on the job.  He’s been preparing a long time for retirement, and now, it’s here. 

As we all went through the day, I’d stop by and say things to acknowledge him.

“You know, this is the last 9:15 AM at work in your career”.

He stayed busy, in thanks partly to a number of phone calls from folks he’d worked with.  He said, “I’ve just been really surprised by how many nice things folks have said to me.”

I nodded my head.

Continue reading A New Life Chapter →

dreams, Faith, Family, Hope, inspiration, life, priorities, Time

The Mind Churn

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My mind turns, twists, moves and churns. Earthquakes of urgent thoughts turn into raging thought tsunamis.

It’s not what isn ‘t. It’s what is.  

What’s isn’t, isn’t talked about.  What is, is.

Raging waters flow uphill, gather speed, then dribble down the mind’s mountainside spilling into the deepest depths, depths that do not surrender the issues of thought, whether forgotten or taught, surrendered or caught, given or bought.  

Words sound large, but quiet speaks loud. Its silence heals.  The healing rest, the energizing of silence slips away in our loud, boisterous, information-based system of living.  Yet the need to be still and hear the leaves rustle remains, even when it’s pushed aside.  

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beauty, children, Family, Hope, inspiration, love, Time, Truth

The Best Love Letter Ever!

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Seriously, it was the best love letter!

I was in high school.  The summer before my sophomore year, I lived with and worked for my uncle in another town about an hour away. Through their church, I met two sisters, one also about to be a sophomore and one a junior. 

I was pretty naïve then, like Forest Gump at a dogfight naïve.

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Church, crucifixion, death, dying, Faith, Family, inspiration, Israel, Jesus, life

Cross Talk

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From the time I was a seedling, I wanted to be something worthwhile. Every day I stretched higher, farther, reaching for the sun to bathe my leaves in life giving photosynthesis.

My life in the forest ended when soldiers wearing helmets, red cloaks and armor cut me down. 

I hoped the soldiers would form me into an honorable, useful item, like a fine chair, magnificent bed, or maybe a grand formal dining table. I would’ve even been satisfied to be a powerful support post in a house or mansion holding it all up.

Instead, their axes hacked me into a long, rough beam. Still, I hoped. 

They loaded me in a wagon and hauled me to a city. There they cut off a smaller beam from my top, notched a side to fit over the beam, and secured my pieces with long spikes and rope.

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country, death, Family, government, Hope, life

Brave

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Nineteen years ago, at the moment this posts, 10:02 AM on September 11, 2001, United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field killing all passengers, and the terrorists who hijacked the plane. 

No one will ever know for sure how many lives the passengers saved.  They had just learned that both Twin Towers and the Pentagon had been struck by hijacked planes.  Instead of becoming lambs to the slaughter, they fought back as wolves against evil snakes. 

The passengers weren’t looking for trouble, yet when chaos began, they met the challenge. The law-abiding citizens who had families, children, and jobs fought back to protect others on the ground.

That, my friend, is brave!

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cancer, Dating, Faith, Family, food, Hope, Marriage, priorities, Renal cell carcinoma

5 Course Meal Celebration

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Last Friday I took my wife Janet out on the town! A five-course dinner date! I know! Right!?

But we live in the oldest town in Texas, and there’s not a great deal of five star restaurants in Nacogdoches, Texas. So we created our own “fine dining” experience in a mobile, drive around way.

I wrote down twenty restaurants and fast food joints up and down our hometown main drag. Each place was cut to its own little strip, and I put them all in a styrofoam cup that had all 5 courses scribbled on the outside. Janet blindly reached in the cup and pulled the first slip for the first course.

It was Subway. Janet objected. She said Subway had the most expensive drinks in town, so she wanted to go somewhere else. Eventually, she acquiesced, and we ordered one large half and half tea, two straws.

The second course was Bottle Cap Alley for appetizers. A quarter mile drive and we were there, but they didn’t have many choices. Basically, we settled for fried onion rings. Besides, the next course was vegetables, so we could get something healthy then.

The third course drawn, however, was another fast food place, Taco Bueno! My five-course meal deal idea was falling apart.

We had to be creative, but guacamole with fried chips was as close as we could get to vegetables.

The fourth draw for the main course drew a groan from both of us, and then the laughter. Dominos Pizza!

While they made the extra thin crust vegetable pizza, we munched on the chips, guacamole and onion rings. After that, the pizza tasted like saltine crackers with onions and tomato sauce on it.

There’s a bloated, clog up your arteries with grease feeling that was kicking in, but we were committed to a 5 course meal…

Dessert! Should’ve started there! A quick draw from the cup and it was Whataburger, the Texas standard for fast food burgers. It was a no brainer choice!

But ice cream and milkshakes don’t mix with lactose intolerance, and the scrumptious home style cinnamon rolls were 580 calories a piece! We settled on apple pies that were only 200 calories each. Did I mention they were fried?

It was fun though, and totally random! We’ll do it again, but not tonight.

Tonight Janet will be in the hospital.

We’re in Houston. At this very moment, Janet is in surgery to remove cancer from a kidney. She was diagnosed three weeks ago.

I’m scribbling to redirect my emotions, blind my thoughts, dull the heightened awareness that the future has changed.

How much, and to what extent it’s changed, we won’t know until the pathology report comes in next week.

If all goes well, this will be a one and done surgery.

If it goes really, really well, next Friday we’ll be celebrating the 15% chance that the cancer is benign.

That’ll be worth a five course meal for sure!