If only we could take them back, for they were not what we had in mind, at all. I’m not talking about returning merchandise to the retailer without the receipt. I’m talking about word mishaps. Sometimes what comes out of our mouths isn’t what was in our brains, or better yet, we just become confused and say the totally wrong words.

At times, these situations can be rather humorous. And at other times, it would be merciful of God to let the floor open up and swallow us.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter how many receipts we have; we can never take our words back.

Do you remember your first job? I do. It was a long time ago, but is still fresh in my memory. It was 1944 when I moved in with the telephone operator in our “the wide spot in the road” community. I was in the tenth grade. My folks were in the midst of the in-fighting leading up to their divorce. I looked for a way out of the tensions at home. When the job became available, I jumped at it.

Cold weather is here again. The wind whips around the house stirring up piles of fallen leaves. As soon as it warms up a bit this morning, Anne will be out there with the leaf blower corralling leaves, blowing them across the road into the woods. It is weather like this that calls for a hearty breakfast.

Campbell County author Carol McClain announces fourth inspirational novel.

Knoxville TN: McClain’s latest novel, Yesterday’s Poison, on sale January 7, 2019, deals with the healing that comes from forgiveness. No matter how big or small, forgiveness heals the person’s wounds.

Yesterday’s Poison depicts three incongruous friends whose lives intersect when Torie Sullivan, while in a drunken rage, totals her car. Paramedic Adam Benedict saves her, but he discovers she’s the high school bully who tormented him and nearly ruined his life.

As Part of a new series called:
Things That Make You Go Hmmm?

Luke 2:8
“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.”

Why does the Gospel writer Matthew mention the wise men coming to Jesus, and why does the Gospel writer Luke mention shepherds coming to Jesus?

Last time we addressed Matthew’s wise men part of this two-part question. This time we will concentrate on answering part two: Why does the Gospel writer Luke mention shepherds coming to Jesus?

In her poem, Emily Dickinson was speaking of two life events that were as painful and devastating as death. The beauty of poetry, and literature in general, is the myriad of meaning that a poem or story can have on different people.

Like I said, my feet and my brain are rarely in sync. Embarrassment is usually my main concern, but I had one fall that could have been very dangerous.

After I closed the basement door behind me, I spun around too fast, causing my feet to trip over each other. I tried to recover, but I couldn’t. That was frightening for 10 feet beneath me was the concrete floor. Concrete doesn’t give.

How can something be an “almost log cabin”? Easy, when you have a big enough supply of 3” by 6” lumber. Of course we could have used it for studding, but Dad would hear none of that. Let me tell you about it. A little background first.

A new study in the Journal of Public Health indicates that adolescents who experience back pain more frequently are also more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and report problems like anxiety and depression.

During adolescence, the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain (pain arising from the bones, joints or muscles) in general, and back pain in particular rises steeply. Although often dismissed as trivial and fleeting, adolescent back pain is responsible for substantial health care use, school absence, and interference with day-to-day activities in some children.

When the forest is laid bare each winter there is a tendency to think of it as a bleak and dreary place. But the basic structural skeleton of each tree can be seen at this time, with every branch, twig, and bud visible, thus revealing how it has grown in the past, and how it has prepared for the future. So put on a coat, go outside and go look at a tree.