December of 2020 is not only a time to eagerly await turning the calendar, this is the opportunity to take our final exam. How have we conducted our lives, and how will we prepare for the coming days ahead?
It is worth noting Rodgers and Hammerstein didn’t include final exams in the lyrics of “My Favorite Things.” I endured examinations as a student, often murmuring along with fellow […]
Paradigms are powerful. The Oxford English Dictionary defines them as “a pattern or model.” The word was obscure until Thomas Kuhn used it referring to a set of concepts and practices defining a scientific discipline in his 1962 book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Now, it is popularly used to define how someone looks at anything.
Our personal retirement paradigm is built from our hopes and dreams (what […]
Today, I would like to address those serving in the early years of their ministry. Follow closely.
Baseball is a game made up of intricate movements. Those who watch a game on television never see ninety percent of the shifts and adjustments that affect the outcome. Those who attend games may observe only fifteen percent more. Fans are waiting for the game changing moment. They await the key […]
I remember my Dad teaching me how to fish. I remember being enthralled with the rods and reels at Jones Hardware in downtown Leaksville, NC. One day in 1958, he succumbed to my plea, purchasing a Zebco 33 rod & reel for our new adventure in fishing!
The first step was to stand in our back yard to learn a little about casting. The maple tree near the […]
We live in an incredible age of immediate gratification! When we want something, it is likely we can get it almost immediately. The lighting and temperature of our home may be controlled from an app on our phone…even if we are far away. Last week, the driver’s side window of my convertible suddenly stopped dropping whenever the door was opened (a characteristic of convertible automobiles). Rather than […]
Hey, we know budgeting is no picnic. It can be (and has been) described as difficult, laborious, painful, tough, tiresome, galling, onerous, and perhaps a gargantuan pain in the neck! That is why there are creators of software, apps, and plans always trying to create something that will make it easier and more understandable. Significant profit potential awaits the creator of the software/app that reviewers tout as […]
It is Friday June 4, and 2020 has been a CRAZY year…particularly for the recent college grads and rising seniors. Your last college semester was not upset…it was torn apart. You were sent home and you were forced to join the online college program, even if you didn’t want to. Your spring sports, spring banquets, end of the semester planned travel, and your graduation was cancelled. For […]
Thankfully, train derailments are not a part of daily life. Those considered minor result in destruction of property, disruption of the operation of the railroad and the schedules of a vast number of people. Major derailments may be catastrophic. The three top causes of derailments are negligence, human error, and reckless actions of pedestrians and drivers. The top three causes of train wrecks/derailments are all based in […]
Retirement is a difficult subject for younger generations. The entire concept seems a bit foggy and out of focus. For someone who has recently begun a career, planning a vacation or the next date is more exciting. Saving is challenging when there are student loans to pay and graduate school begins soon. Planning for a stage of life 40 years away may seem tiresome for couples who […]
“Insurance,” the mere mention of the word has the potential of triggering memories of unhappy phone calls wrangling with people in some distant call center. Insurance in all its forms seems to be accompanied with thoughts of expensive premiums and unfeeling corporate entities. Friends who own vacation property were recently complaining about the inability to control the annual increase in premiums.
Insurance can be frustrating…until…you need the benefits […]