Thursday, May 10, 2012

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My friend Bill was talking to me about his son's "microwave expectations" - "I want it quick!" See, Bill was in his early 50s, and his son had been married about a year at that point. And Bill said, "You know, I just can't believe it. My son and his wife want a home right now. They want to own a home immediately, they want furniture now, and they want a new car now!" Then he kind of summed it up by saying, "They want in one year what it took us 20 years to get." Well, that's fairly typical these days. The child expects a lot more than the father had.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

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Some people have wall-to-wall carpet. Me? I have a wall-to-wall schedule. Maybe you do too. It was like that even when I had to take my daughter to college years ago. She had just returned from a missions trip to Manila and so had I. We had one day to get her to Chicago for college. Not only did we have to get her to school that day, but on that particular Friday, I had to produce some of these radio programs.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

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Over the years, when my kids were growing up and at home, they didn't carry a wallet full of money. And they did need some money along the way. They had to buy their lunch at school. They had to buy clothes when they outgrew them or wore them out; which happened frequently. They had to pay admission prices when they went to special attractions. They needed spending money for trips and vacations, and for cards and gifts.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

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Wow! For once, the United States Congress was totally united. No partisan torpedoes. No verbal dueling. Even tears of compassion from some usually tough opponents.

Gabby did it. It had been just over year that Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was gunned down in a Tucson, Arizona mall. The head wound she received threatened to end her life, you remember, or, at best, to leave her severely handicapped. And a little over a year after the shooting, she made her way to the floor of the House of Representatives to announce her resignation, for now, so she could concentrate on her continuing recovery. She really is a profile in courage.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

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Even with all the problems the airlines have, they've managed to keep something that's pretty valuable to those that fly a lot. It's those frequent flyer deals, and sometimes you can actually get a kind of a free pass to fly somewhere for nothing!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

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There's bad plaque and there's good plaque. The bad kind is that substance that builds up on your teeth that you see in all the toothpaste commercials. They're going to help you get rid of that. Oh, and then there's good plaque; that's the kind we have hanging on walls all over our house.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

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I've actually tried to explain American football to people from another country. It's not easy. Sometimes it's not easy to explain it to someone from this country; especially to some women who don't really care much about how it's played.

Monday, March 19, 2012

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Maybe it's Prozac I need before I watch the news any more, because I know I'm going to be hit with stories and numbers that just quantify a lot of hurt in a lot of lives. I mean, there's jobs lost, and homes lost, and loved ones lost, record numbers living in poverty, and struggling families, and devastating disasters, and always, always, people dying.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

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I'm on this country's interstates a lot, and it was on a day that we were driving along, and I just had this flashback of a time when our family was driving the Interstate and we saw this familiar bumper sticker. I said, "Oh, that's nice." And then I began to pass the car. I could tell from behind, that it was obviously a mother and a child in the front seat. But the significance of the message on the bumper didn't hit me until I pulled along side. I glanced over and it was obvious that the child had an evident disability, and that the mother had a very heavy burden. And I thought, "Boy, how does she cope with responsibility like that?" And then I remembered her bumper sticker and I had my answer. It just might be an answer for you too.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

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Some years ago, we learned a great way to make our vacation dollars stretch, and that's important these days! We ordered ice water with our meals instead of like Coke or something.

Now you say, "Well, that's no big deal." Yeah, it is. We finally talked our kids into it because the five of us, we figured, could save three or four dollars every time we ate out. And pretty soon you add those up and you've got enough to eat another meal out. We also learned it was a good idea to do that throughout the year. Hey, listen, drinking water is good for you.