A Horn, A Drum, And A Gun

By Ed Crumley

In the early years of my life, at least the ones I can remember, I wanted the same three things every Christmas: a horn, a drum, and a gun. Not sure why. We were in the midst of World War II, so at least the gun could’ve had something to do with the war. Maybe I wanted the musical instruments to make my war games sound more dramatic. Or, perhaps I could blame Roy Rogers, our musical cowboy hero, who always got the bad guys with his nickel-plated revolvers blazing.

During those times you couldn’t buy many toys, so Dad made Christmas presents for us. He got out his tools and built things out of wood. Big things like a rocking boat or a rocking horse complete with mane, bridal, and saddle. Those were fine secondary gifts as long as the three required items mentioned above also came in Santa’s bag.

In later years, our Christmas present requests migrated more toward clothes. My brother and I both had to have SMU football jerseys with the number 37, the number of our local hero, Doak Walker. I don’t know why Ken couldn’t have had some lesser player’s number instead. In junior high, my gift request reflected fashion. There was a cool kid at school who was the original Fonz. I had to have the same jacket and scarf that he wore. Funny, but when I put them on, I didn’t look like The Fonz. 

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Microwave Stalactites

By Rhonda Rhea

I opened the door to the microwave to reheat my coffee a few mornings ago, and then realized I just didn’t want to put it in there. Ew. Before the coffee was going in, somebody was going to have to clean out that microwave. It looked like someone had a tiny little ticker tape parade. So much food-confetti, so little space. Worst of all, there were a couple of spaghetti sauce stalactites in there. I like my coffee with lots of sweetener and plenty of creamer. But call me picky, I like it completely without spaghetti sauce drippings. And speaking of “picky,” I thought I might actually need a pickaxe to get to the root of some of those stalactites. Do they make a microwave cleaner that has dynamite as its main component? 

Life can be a little like my microwave. Anytime I’m wondering why it doesn’t taste as sweet, I really have to look at what I might be hanging onto, stalactite-style. Hanging onto self-centeredness, bitterness, laziness—any of those kinds of things—will zap the deliciousness right out of life.

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Where Do Those Angels Come From?

By Janet Perez Eckles

Crazy, isn’t it? When life goes undisturbed, we stroll through the garden of prosperity and bask in the sunshine of success. Our feet sink in the green grass of hope while inhaling the sweet scent of anticipation for more good things to come.

But suddenly, a loud clap of thunder halts our steps. And a storm of adversity shakes our world. We wonder what happened. What went wrong? Where had we failed? How did we allow the rain of misfortune to pour on us?

But in the midst of our bewilderment, something totally strange, bizarre, actually, happens—an angel appears. Unannounced, often unseen, but definitely felt, angels show up in mighty and sometimes simple ways.

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A Box of Chocolate & A Bubble Bath

By Jodi Whisenhunt

This fall, my oldest child, Kyle, started 9^th grade. As a homeschooler, I’m a bit anxious about it. Ok, I’m a lot anxious about it! “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way,” according to 1 Corinthians 14:40 (NIV). Paul’s referring to regulations for speaking in tongues. (By the look on my kids’ faces, sometimes they think I’m doing just that!) However, it’s also good advice for teaching. Problem is, I struggle to do anything in a fitting and orderly way. Recently, I carried a basket of clean laundry down the hall where I found something that belonged in my bedroom. I set the basket down and carried the item to my room where, after catching my reflection in the mirror, I stopped to brush my hair. My daughter came in, so I brushed her hair too. She was still in jammies, so I led her back to her room to change. Only when I took her dirty clothes to the laundry did I remember my original chore.

I admit I’ve been a bit lax with our homeschool structure in recent years. Lax is an understatement. Let me try unorganized, panicked, disappointed, unstructured, befuddled. Like the laundry incident, distractions during class time often divert our attention. Some have become bad habits, like how, being the teenage boy that he is, Kyle must eat every ten minutes.

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Puttin’ on the Blinders: How to Keep Our Focus on Christ

By Dianne E. Butts    

In the mountain town where I used to live, big Belgium work horses wore head gear with blinders—big black wings cupping the horse’s eyes. I thought blinders were cruel, but a friend who knows horses, said, “Blinders are useful tools. Horses have limited side vision. Sudden movements can frighten them, causing them to bolt. Plus, blinders help horses focus down the road on their destination.”

What if we had spiritual blinders that would block out what might cause us to shy away from living for Christ while keeping us focused on our destination in Him?

Shying at Shadows

A rustle in a bush or a sudden movement can startle a horse causing it to shy.

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