Tag: fulltime writer

Reasons to Celebrate America

After watching two of the most contentious, anger-filled political conventions that I can ever remember, it would be easy to get depressed about the state of our nation. It’s hard to believe that participants of the respective major political parties could throw so many slings and arrows that a visitor would think they were describing…
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The Reality of the Daily Grind

After two weeks of Brexit-inspired waffling, the stock market shot up near its all-time historic high at the end of the first week of July. Reported Fortune magazine: “Investors cheered the jobs report showing that the U.S. added 287,000 jobs in June, exceeding economists’ expectations by more than 100,000 jobs.” Almost lost in the cheering…
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Lessons from the Hatfields & McCoys

When someone makes a decision to follow Christ as their Lord and Savior, those outside the church tend to yawn or shrug, “They got religion.” But in the case of William Anderson (better known as Devil Anse) Hatfield, his conversion at the age of 71 is still making an impact more than a century after…
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Finding Perspective in a Flood

There is nothing like a thousand-year flood to give you a more balanced perspective. Right before monsoon-like rains struck West Virginia last month, I was in the midst of a pinch caused by a hefty, long-overdue invoice. While I was confident I would get paid eventually, it still feels a tad irritating when you know…
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Swapping E-mail Addresses

When people who have been more successful in business than me offer advice, I tend to listen. So when not one, but two, associates suggested late last year that it was time to scrap my antiquated-looking e-mail address, I thought, Better pay attention. Changing e-mail addresses is no big deal to lots of folks. Over…
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A Hometown Link to Legendary Ali

Nearly two weeks have passed since the worldwide broadcast of famed boxer Muhammad Ali’s funeral. There is little I can add to the parade of glowing tributes to the former heavyweight champion from every corner of society. Still, the news of his passing prompted me to recall some favorite memories related to his legendary 1971…
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Lost in Life

Having lived in Denver for more than six years and visited a number of times since we moved back east, I never dreamed of getting lost there. Yet on our recent vacation, that’s exactly what happened. One night, as we left our son’s apartment for our hotel southeast of the city, I decided it would…
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State of Miracles (Part 2)

Read State of Miracles Part 1 Second of two parts I mentioned in my last blog that we made a decision to change our lives after facing the enormous pressure brought on by my stepson’s drug use and related problems—which ultimately led to him serving several months in jail for violating his probation. I think too…
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State of Miracles

First of two parts Sometimes major decisions in life turn on small, mysterious incidents. Looking back, it is easy to gauge their earth-shattering significance, although at the time one could only see pain and confusion. I reflected on that truth last week on a visit to Colorado, where we lived from 1981-87. One reason for…
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The Intrusive Operating System

I’m running Windows 10 now on my laptop—but not voluntarily. Now, I had already familiarized myself with Microsoft’s latest operating system over the past six months, having installed it on the desktop computer that serves as my back-up system. Yet, the Windows 7 Ultimate that my grandson installed on his laptop before I bought it…
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