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Walking through Concourse D at Louis Armstrong Airport, I spotted a little boy, who appeared to be 7 or 8, in a wheelchair, escorted by a smiling gentleman in his mid 60s. I wondered to myself what their story was. Why the wheelchair for the boy and why a man his age with him? And I thought, “I wouldn’t mind sitting next to them in an airplane." I waited at gate D5 until my name was called by the agent for my seat assignment: 7F. Once again, I spotted the man and the boy. As

The first attempt to dig the Panama Canal across the Isthmus of Panama was made by a French company. Thousands of men and tons of machinery tackled the remote mountains and thick jungles. After millions of dollars had been spent, however, the project was abandoned, not because of the mountains but because of the mosquitoes. Yellow fever from mosquitoes killed thousands. It was not until American doctors found ways of protecting people against mosquitoes that the project was r

The twelve disciples of Jesus are a fascinating group of guys. In my reading of the Gospels, there is one thing that stands out about these guys. While they are quite the assortment of personalities and backgrounds, full of human weaknesses like the rest of us, there appears to be one characteristic that brought them all together.      When Jesus called, they immediately responded. “Follow me,” Jesus said to each of them, and immediately they left their places, their liveliho

Linda and I have a seasonal campsite right on a river, about an hour’s drive from our home. Being right on the river, when there is a lot of rain and the river swells, our entire campsite (and half the campground) is sometimes flooded. So when flooding is predicted, we pull our camper out and store it until the water subsides. It doesn’t flood every year, but this year, It’s been flooding on and off with every heavy rain for the past month. Our camper is back in place now, bu

Everyone in my generation heard that. It was what our parents would tell us all summer long. They believed it was good for our creative minds to entertain ourselves outside. And they also didn’t want us in the way. :-)Some of you probably need to be told that as an adult. “Go outside and play!”I grew up fishing and hunting and hiking. I believe God created nature to be our habitat and the further we have removed ourselves from it, the more emotional and psychiatric problems w

If you know me, you know that I believe that the church has one mandate, and that is to proclaim the Gospel: Jesus died for us and rose again so that we can be reconciled to our Creator. That’s the message the church has been called by Jesus himself to share, because no matter where people are at in their political views, they all need God. While New Testament writers and the early church spoke about matters of morality and justice, they never told the Roman government what t

Poor Constantin. He can’t convince anyone that he’s really alive. Even by standing before them and saying, “See! I’m right here! I’m speaking to you. I’m alive!” But no, the Romanian government had declared him dead and what’s done is done. There’s no changing the matter.Mr. Reliu had travelled to Turkey for a job opportunity, and then remained there for 3 years. When he returned, he discovered that his wife was having an affair, so he went back to Turkey and stayed 18 years.

It’s that time of year…for syrupy graduation speeches, often filled with advice that I truly hope graduates do NOT take. I’m talking about “chase your dreams” and “follow your passions” kind of advice, along with the reminders that, “You are amazing” and “You can do anything.”Sorry, but you really can’t do anything, and those who say you can are doing you a disservice. Had I believed that I could do anything when I graduated from high school, I would have pursued a career in

When you get big news, how do you respond? “Well that depends on if it’s good news or bad news,” you might reply. Does it really? Studies show that successful people process good and bad news the same way. People who react poorly to bad news also tend to make bad decisions in the wake of good news. For example, decisions after seemingly great news of instant wealth, such as winning the lottery, depend largely on how that person has historically handled distasteful news, such

Did you see the viral video of the dog attempting to drink from the shadow of running water on a brick wall? You can see the freeze frame from that video on this post’s title image. I chuckled along with millions of other viewers while watching what this dog kept trying to do. The real water was flowing right in front of him, but he was insistent on trying to quench his thirst from the shadow of the the real stuff. The more he licked the brick wall, the thirstier he became. B

Believe it or not, Summer is around the corner. To make the most of the warmer weather and longer days, decide now how you are going to spend the summer and plan it. Here are a couple of suggestions. Schedule vacation . Some of our fondest family memories took place on trips we took as a family in the summer. Bike the Des Plaines River Trail . We have seen deer, fox, coyote, cranes, lots of geese and ducks, and one or two mosquitos :-). If you don’t have a bike, maybe now’s t

My son and daughter-in-law had TV news on Thursday morning as they were getting ready for the day. So my oldest granddaughter, 4 year-old Madison, was sitting on the floor watching the news. The story of Iran’s missile attack on the Golan Heights and Israel’s response was being reported and Maddie was trying to digest it. Suddenly, she exclaimed, “Mom! Israel is attacking! JESUS IS BACK!" I don’t know how her little mind put that together. Thanks to Bridge Kids, she has enoug