Uncategorized
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Let’s Do a Sniff Test
I was on a walk recently and one of our local garbage hauling trucks approached on the other side of the street. I noted immediately that this particular truck was unusually clean and shiny, which seemed pretty nice for a garbage truck. The truck approached and passed me without incident, but OH MY! The stench it left behind nearly knocked me over! I picked up my walking pace to escape the lingering unpleasantness.
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Pick Me! Pick Me!
I especially dreaded what seemed to be a common occurrence in our elementary P.E. classes. The teacher would select two kids--usually the "popular" ones-- to be captains of opposing teams and the captains would take turns choosing teammates. Guess who was usually left until the very end when the last captain to choose would be stuck with me?
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So Much Noise!
We had five of our grandchildren with us for that evening and they absolutely loved their first demo derby. It can get pretty loud at demo derbies, so they each had something to put in or over their ears. I was just covering my ears as needed and found it humorous that I mostly needed it because of the grandkids' cheering and not because of the cars.
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Speechless…But So Much To Say!
I live in a suburb of Minneapolis and the horrific school shooting that just occurred at a Catholic school here in our city has rekindled some of the feelings I had as a teacher. I'm retired from teaching, but now I convey some of those thoughts and feelings on the fact that I have precious grandchildren sitting in classrooms in a few different schools.
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Is Worship Worth It?
To some people, the word "worship" may be synonymous with "boredom". That's really unfortunate because true worship is anything but boring. A few months ago I had what you may call a personal "epiphany" with regard to worship.
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Are They the Bad Guys?
One of my daughters was recently sharing with me that they decided to have their boys (ages 3 and almost 5) watch their first "real human" movie rather than just the short animated films they have seen before. They thought "The Sound of Music" would be a good choice.
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Yes, It’s Personal
We had not actually spoken to one another in 35 to 40 years! What a lovely time it was, catching up a bit and reminiscing about our college days. It prompted me to dig out the old college yearbooks and I managed to while away a bit of time chuckling to myself about the clothing and hairstyle trends as vivid memories rushed through my brain.
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Seeing the Forest and the Trees
My husband and I spent the past week camping in northern Minnesota. We enjoyed the beauty of lakes and woods, wildlife and birdsong, warm sunny days and chilly rainy nights. When we were on one of our hikes, the details of the nature around really had my attention. So many kinds of trees. Some beautiful, majestic and tall. Others small, some struggling and some dead and decaying. Such a variety of plants, moss, wildflowers. As we moved along it was easy to almost forget about the grand forest in which we were engulfed. It was hard to see the forest for the trees.
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He’s Coming!
The attached photo is just a memory now. Once in a while during my full time teaching days, I would need to leave that classroom for a moment--perhaps to grab something from the printer in the next room or check in with a colleague. If the students were highly engaged in the task at hand, they often never knew I stepped out. But sometimes it only took a couple of observant kiddos to recognize my absence and the whole place would fall apart.
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Pretty Powerful!
A year or so ago we purchased a power washer. It's been life-changing. We've used power nozzles on our hoses and other "wanna be" options but now that we can connect to a more effective power source, we can really accomplish some things! I wonder how many of us as Christians are living our lives in our own feeble power and failing to connect to the source that is at our fingertips--or, rather, in our very souls.
