Celebrating the Journey

I have to admit it…I love the character that Carroll O’Conner played on All in the Family whom we all know as none other than: Archie Bunker. He called his sweet wife Edith a “dingbat” but Edith was anything but a “dingbat.” Archie was forever mispronouncing words. He referred to Edith’s doctor as a “gronacologist.” Rich people drove “Lincoln Contrinentals.” And things of special value have “sentrimentral value.” Even men like Archie own things that they consider to have “sentrimentral”…

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Both of my neighbors on either side of our home could have their lawns featured in some gardening magazine or website. They have carefully manicured yards with flowers and shrubs placed strategically throughout the landscape. I am sandwiched between them with weeds growing on the dirt that has collected on back deck for the past three years. The grass under the largest tree in our backyard met an untimely death during a freeze in 2007 or what is it 2008?…

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March is nearly over and I have written very few blog entries. There has been no shortage of interesting topics to write about. But the vast majority of the encounters I have had recently with people are intensely personal. It would not be appropriate me to divulge details about the private crises of those that I am privileged to serve. Confidential pastoral communication is actually a great thing. I like to write, so it is has been a tad frustrating…

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I have enjoyed reading my friends’ status updates on Facebook this week, as they have enjoyed spring break. Friends from Wisconsin vacationed in San Antonio. Grandparents spoiled their grandbabies. Teachers took a short break from their responsibilities. Students stayed up later and slept in longer. But I have one friend in particular who did not spend his spring break at Fiesta Texas or Six Flags. 19 year old Valiente (not his real name) spent his spring break at the world…

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I am not a good list maker. I lose the grocery list that Jan’s gives me somewhere between the driveway at our house and the milk vault at Walmart. If asked, she would imply I aid and abet its mysterious disappearance. When I take a day off, I hate making a list of things that need to be done. It cramps my inclination toward the spontaneous. But I have found that there are a certain kinds of lists that even…

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Kids growing up and leaving home is way overrated. Playing Monopoly during school breaks at Christmas and Spring Break has been a family tradition for a number of years now. This afternoon I showed the boys that the old man can still monopolize them. But we were missing a player during this game. Randall is spending his Spring Break with friends. He will soon be 22 years old. What should I expect? I expect him to roll the clock back and…

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About 8 years ago we hosted a small group of students from another country in our home overnight. They were teenagers involved in a Rotary Club International exchange program. When the group arrived in our city, I ended up being the member of our local Rotary Club that hosted them. They were all teenage female, so I enlisted two of the girls in our youth group at church to assist me in this effort. We showed them the sights of…

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In 2004, I was teaching a class at a ministry conference on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University in Edmond. During a break, I ran over the convenience store to buy gas and then had plans to grab some fast food. I immediately recognized the gentleman getting gas at the pump just in front of me. Don Vinzant served in the same role that I am serving for the Granbury Church of Christ from 1982 until 1989. He moved to…

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I officiated at Horace Hutton’s funeral yesterday. He was 96 years old. Most of us can only dream about being as cool as Horace was in his 80’s and then into his 90’s as well. When he was 80 years old, he entered a business venture with one of his sons. He told him: “Son, I need to careful about what kind of deal I get into, because I probably only have 10 or 15 GOOD years left.” I love…

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Shadowlands is one of my all time favorite movies. The story is loosely based on the life of C.S. Lewis. Anthony Hopkins, who plays Lewis, is wonderful as always. Debra Winger plays the American poet, Joy Gresham, whom Lewis actually married relatively late in life. The dialog in the movie is excellent. The plot is downright moving. It is a movie about a romance. But of even greater significance in my mind, it is about people learning to relate to…

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