I’ve read this before, but The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis is certainly worth reading again, and again. I took it off my shelf because my friend mentioned that Max McLean did a sketch of one of the scenes from the book. I started to read the book again, and couldn’t put it down. The [...]
The last time we bought a new car was in 1999 when we bought the Honda Odyssey. Yesterday we bought a new 2013 Toyota Prius, brand new with 2 miles on the odometer. Don’t we all hate that part of the car buying process of haggling with the salesperson, who, when he can’t get you [...]
Playing Scrabble with my family: “Is ‘eWorked a word?” “Well, there’s Elance, eHarmony, email, elope. Sure, eWorked is a word.” 36 points for that new word in the Scrabble dictionary.
This year I have learned that procrastinating is not worth the pay off from procrastinating. So why do I procrastinate? What are the payoffs? – having fun doing other things instead of the thing that I put off doing. – doing easy things instead of tackling the difficulty of the thing that I am putting [...]
My sister is into jewelry. She tries hard getting me interested it in. “You order it and it’s mailed to you in a beautiful box,” she says excitedly. But honestly, jewelry is not something I get excited about. What I look forward to in the mail are books! When I order a book from Amazon, [...]
I have a feeling that when I am on my deathbed, I will regret not taking more risks in doing adventurous things – skydiving, waterskiing, traveling, etc. Yet, when I consider doing those things now, I say, “Why? Why should I want to get out of my comfort zone? Is there anything to gain other [...]
What are you thankful for this year that you couldn’t say last year? I am thankful that my son is living closer to home, at least for now. I am thankful for my new job as children director at a church with many fellow faithful servants. I am thankful for the memory foam on my [...]
A simple act of kindness I saw made me realize how weak I am in living up to my value system. Here’s the scene: I attend an exercise class at the senior center 3 times a week. The room is packed wall-to-wall with about 80 people, mainly because the price is right – it’s a [...]
Perhaps it’s mid-life crisis, perhaps it’s changing hormones, perhaps it’s watching and caring for my father journeying what is likely his final round in life. I’ve been thinking that if I were to die, there isn’t anything that I am doing where I cannot be replaced. Yes, friends may miss me and my unique personality, [...]
Thanks for the guest post by Jo Levy What would we do without the internet? It just amazes me the way you can get information these days. By the click of a button you can look at anything in the world. You can find out the answer to any question that you could possibly think [...]
I read an interesting article in the California Southern Baptists periodical – Can Sunday School be saved? With declining attendance in Sunday School based on a LifeWay survey, the article discusses what can be done. Ken Meyers, minister of Christian formation and education at Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston – Salem, NC, said the question [...]
“Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed [...]
There’s a shoe repair shop in our little city of 30,000. How many people would need their shoes repaired? I went in there to have my $40 pair of shoes repaired. The cost of repairing the sole is $16. It’s hardly worth it for me, and hardly worth it for him. It made me wish [...]
“Lady, can you spare a quarter?” I said no and turned away. Then I felt a pang of guilt -what if she just had some bad luck and need a helping hand? Not so. 10 min. later the same lady was in line in front of me at the market, paying for a bottle of [...]
Changing the carpet today ushers in a new stage of life for us. Gone are the stains, left by three dogs who were our companions and security system. No more chewed up carpet corners, reminiscence of our first pet bunny Smokey. Spills and grime of children’s play are no more. A fresh start, a new [...]
Friday 7/8 The most exciting thing about landing in Taiwan is not Taiwan, but seeing E greeting us at the airport! He flew in from Saigon a few hours earlier, joining us for this vacation. Second on the list of exciting thing about Taiwan is meeting T’s friends. They have a nice big van that [...]
Saturday, 7/9 This is our first full day in Taiwan. I slept maybe 5 hours with the jet lag, but felt rested. First thing we did was buy an MRT card loaded with enough credits for rides for our entire time in Taipei. I love the MRT, so efficient, so clean, so convenient, so easy [...]
I’m still writing about my vacation. In my backwards recall of our days in Taiwan, I am now back at the first weekend when we arrived there. We arrived on Friday, 7/8, but I’ll start with Sunday, 7/10 and go back from there. Sunday, 7/10 We woke up early to make our way to worship [...]
My friend LL showed me this book and asked if I’ve read it. I had not even heard of the author (later to find that Platt is a friend of a friend I just met), but I was curious and always up for a good book. The cover says it’s a New York Times Bestseller. [...]
Saturday, 7/16 Sent off a birthday wish to Au. I don’t remember when we haven’t been together to celebrate her birthday. She’s in Germany while we are in Taiwan, and that doesn’t happen very often…actually never, and will probably never happen again. We spent the day with T, first going to Danshui, known for shopping, [...]