Home by Phil Last month Pam and I took a little trip to Maine to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. It was a wonderful, relaxing vacation with plenty of lighthouses for Pam and lobsters for me! I'm already wondering what I'll eat, I mean where we'll go for #36. We've spent many nights in various hotels and guest homes during our lives on the road. When I wake up at night (usually because I have to go to the bathroom), I'm not immediately sure where I am. I have to look around to jog my...
13 days ago • 1 min read
Buy Once, Cry Once by Phil Growing up, my family never had a lot of money. I remember many trips to the outlet store for school clothes and grocery shopping at the day-old bakery. Many of our appliances were returns that were thrown away at Sears where my dad worked. He would bring them home, fix them up (I wish he had passed that talent down to me!) and they would last us for years. Don't get me wrong, we had everything we needed, just not a bunch of extras. That's where I learned to be...
20 days ago • 2 min read
Veteran's Day by Phil Tuesday, November 11 is (or was depending on when you read this) Veteran's Day. Around this time we often think of Jesus' words in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends," with Jesus' sacrifice on the cross being the ultimate example of His love for us. But Veteran's Day is not just for those who gave their lives, that's Memorial Day. Veteran's Day is for all those who were willing to serve our country, to give their time...
27 days ago • 1 min read
And There It Goes... by Phil This week did not go according to my plans, which is why you are reading my Tuesday morning devotion on Wednesday afternoon. It all started Sunday when my phone started randomly turning off and restarting. I was reading the scripture in my Bible app along with the congregation, when all of a sudden, there it goes... blank screen followed by reboot, looking for wifi, and reopening app just as the scripture reading was finished. Throughout the day, the trend...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Here Sheepy, Sheepy! by Phil Luke Chapter 15 is probably one of the most familiar chapters in the Bible. It's the Jesus parable trilogy! We start out with the ever popular parable of the lost sheep. Then, like many movie trilogies, we move on to the parable of the lost coin - still good but not quite as memorable as the rest. Finally, Jesus wraps it up with a blockbuster - the parable of the prodigal son. These stories were originally directed at the Pharisees and teachers of the law, but...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Two Score Less Five Years Ago... by Phil On October 20th, Pam and I will have been married 35 years. One of my friends asked if we had any "hot topics" we avoid in conversation that would lead to an argument. I thought about it for a while and honestly couldn't think of any. I guess we've mellowed as we've aged, as that was not always the case. For example... Early in our ministry, our anniversary fell on a Sunday. A pastor called and asked if Pam and I would lead a worship service at his...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Rescued from the Burn Bin by Phil Several weeks ago I wanted to make a birthday gift for my preacher buddy so I went to the back yard and grabbed a log. I cut off a section, mounted it on my lathe and started turning. Almost immediately I ran into a soft spot of decay. I thought I'd turn past that area, so I kept going deeper but didn't come to the end of the spongy-ness. Finally, I gave up and threw the log into my burn bin. When the burn bin gets full I pull my mobile fire pit onto the...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Happy October Everybody! This is our favorite time of the year - Leaves changing colors, the nip in the evening air, the Chiefs playing football (that last one is all Pam, but Phil does enjoy watching the animated exchanges with the TV). Above all that, we are enjoying our new role as grandparents! We've been blessed to have a few opportunities to watch our new little buddy and everybody is doing great. Pam is the queen of feeding and book reading time, while Phil excels at naps. (This may...
2 months ago • 1 min read
The Benefits of Getting Old by Phil Growing older isn't for the faint of heart. Things that used to work don't work anymore, and things that still work, hurt. I've heard your memory is the second thing to go... but I can't remember the first. Sure, I could grumble about these inconveniences, but I choose to see them as blessings. I can't see as good as I used to, but the people I hang around with don't look as good as they used to so that's probably not a bad thing. In fact, I wouldn't want a...
3 months ago • 1 min read