“Born in the 1920’s, he grew up in the depression poor like most rural American children. … As he grew up, he belonged to the Boy Scouts, played trumpet in the high school band and went to church almost all Sundays. In 1944 this 18-year old country boy who never traveled more than 50 miles from home found himself going through basic training at a U.S. Army Camp in Texas. After that, he rode a train with hundreds of other teenagers to New York City to board a Liberty ship to cross the Atlantic to fight WWII. … He was in the 7th Army serving in the European theater. ...read on
He was a gifted young man. He related well to the other kids and had natural leadership qualities. The pastor saw his heart for the Lord mature into his high school years. The young man led the youth group prayer time every chance he got and enjoyed helping coordinate various trips over the years. He began meeting with the pastor regularly to discuss a future in student ministry.
As he wrapped up his junior year in high school and prepared for the summer mission trip with the youth group, he told his dad of the passion he had for ministry, that he was thinking ...read on
An annual tribute to my mother and encouragement to you: She was an incredible woman. Born in 1921, she aspired to be a vocal performer. As a senior in high school, she contracted tuberculosis. Her dream to perform was no longer possible and the vocal scholarship to attend college was rescinded. She married a handsome Navy pilot just before he was deployed to the South Pacific Theater in WWII. He returned quite a different man than the one she married. Post-Traumatic Stress played a major role in the alcoholism and other challenges the marriage and family would face over the ensuing years. Ma endured ...read on
Ron had experienced his mother’s passing six months after her being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Now, over 30-years later, he has been diagnosed with the same debilitating disease. The unique gene (C9orf72) that is genetically passed on to generations that follow was identified and the battle was on.
His youngest daughter Rachel had an idea – If her daddy would not be able to dance with her on her future wedding day, maybe the time to dance was now. Here are her words: ...read on
He had been in prison for a number of years. While there, his ex-wife had moved across state lines with the kids. Upon release, parole stipulations did not allow him to leave the state. Frustrated, he reached out to a ministry leader for some guidance on how to connect with his kids. He had not seen them since he first went to prison and his understanding was that he now had a granddaughter.
The ministry leader encouraged the young man to ...read on
It was a confusing time. He enjoyed running a lawncare service crew through high school and thought he might continue that because it was pretty good money. A father-figure pushed the idea of a college education but that seemed financially out of reach and he did not like school that much. He had a dream of being a Navy pilot like his dad, so enlisting in the military seemed a good option for consideration. It was decision time.
When is enough formal education enough? Over the last several decades we have heard ...read on
Dad moved his family five times in her first nine years of life. His daughter had attended four different schools by the time she entered the fourth grade and he was still traveling about 75% of the time. He had not made one parent-teacher conference, not one school activity and even missed her stage debut when she got the lead in her second-grade production – 468 marbles lost.
On their last move, a friend shared a story of how his dad ...read on
It was forty-nine years ago that we heard those infamous words, “Houston, we have a problem.” Two days into their mission, the crew of Apollo 13 had an oxygen tank explode some 200,000 miles from earth. The lunar landing was aborted and the mission became one of survival. It was all-hands-on-deck at Mission Control to provide whatever was needed to get the crew back home safely.
Life can be like that. I know one dad who keeps ...read on
The market changed. What had been college funds for the kids was gone. When he was introduced to the “high risk, high return” fund years earlier, what he heard was just the “high return” piece. On the highly focused quest for financial security, one step was to secure funds for the kids’ advanced education. That step was behind him, he thought. Then the “risk” piece hit. The fund collapsed.
Life is like that. Folks hear what they want to hear until ...read on
His phone went off and he answered it in the middle of dinner. He stepped away to carry on a short conversation and then returned to the table. His daughter asked, “What was so important that interrupted our family dinner time Daddy?” Dad was busted and that started a dialogue around protecting family time from distractions. A new family policy around phones and other electronic devices was initiated.
The mere presence of one’s own smartphone may induce “brain drain” by ...read on
“Born in the 1920’s, he grew up in the depression poor like most rural American children. … As he grew up, he belonged to the Boy Scouts, played trumpet in the high school band and went to church almost all Sundays. In 1944 this 18-year old country boy who never traveled more than 50 miles from home found himself going through basic training at a U.S. Army Camp in Texas. After that, he rode a train with hundreds of other teenagers to New York City to board a Liberty ship to cross the Atlantic to fight WWII. … He was in the 7th Army serving in the European theater. 
He was a gifted young man. He related well to the other kids and had natural leadership qualities. The pastor saw his heart for the Lord mature into his high school years. The young man led the youth group prayer time every chance he got and enjoyed helping coordinate various trips over the years. He began meeting with the pastor regularly to discuss a future in student ministry.
She was an incredible woman. Born in 1921, she aspired to be a vocal performer. As a senior in high school, she contracted tuberculosis. Her dream to perform was no longer possible and the vocal scholarship to attend college was rescinded. She married a handsome Navy pilot just before he was deployed to the South Pacific Theater in WWII. He returned quite a different man than the one she married. Post-Traumatic Stress played a major role in the alcoholism and other challenges the marriage and family would face over the ensuing years. Ma endured 
Ron had experienced his mother’s passing six months after her being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Now, over 30-years later, he has been diagnosed with the same debilitating disease. The unique gene (C9orf72) that is genetically passed on to generations that follow was identified and the battle was on.
He had been in prison for a number of years. While there, his ex-wife had moved across state lines with the kids. Upon release, parole stipulations did not allow him to leave the state. Frustrated, he reached out to a ministry leader for some guidance on how to connect with his kids. He had not seen them since he first went to prison and his understanding was that he now had a granddaughter.
It was a confusing time. He enjoyed running a lawncare service crew through high school and thought he might continue that because it was pretty good money. A father-figure pushed the idea of a college education but that seemed financially out of reach and he did not like school that much. He had a dream of being a Navy pilot like his dad, so enlisting in the military seemed a good option for consideration. It was decision time.
Dad moved his family five times in her first nine years of life. His daughter had attended four different schools by the time she entered the fourth grade and he was still traveling about 75% of the time. He had not made one parent-teacher conference, not one school activity and even missed her stage debut when she got the lead in her second-grade production – 468 marbles lost.
It was forty-nine years ago that we heard those infamous words, “Houston, we have a problem.” Two days into their mission, the crew of Apollo 13 had an oxygen tank explode some 200,000 miles from earth. The lunar landing was aborted and the mission became one of survival. It was all-hands-on-deck at Mission Control to provide whatever was needed to get the crew back home safely.
The market changed. What had been college funds for the kids was gone. When he was introduced to the “high risk, high return” fund years earlier, what he heard was just the “high return” piece. On the highly focused quest for financial security, one step was to secure funds for the kids’ advanced education. That step was behind him, he thought. Then the “risk” piece hit. The fund collapsed.
His phone went off and he answered it in the middle of dinner. He stepped away to carry on a short conversation and then returned to the table. His daughter asked, “What was so important that interrupted our family dinner time Daddy?” Dad was busted and that started a dialogue around protecting family time from distractions. A new family policy around phones and other electronic devices was initiated. 
