The Three Minute Grandparent

  "I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on it. Please have snow and mistletoe,  and presents on the tree." Home for Christmas,  the phrase has a nostalgic sound, and brings up memories of family, friends, a church, and perhaps a pet.  Since these are important, let's ask, "what is family?"  Whom are we thinking of when we think of family? Perhaps the question should be, "who is our family?"  Jesus was asked a similar question. "Who is my neighbor?" He answered with "The one who needs you."  We are to be neighbors to those around us, to anyone who needs us.   Mr Rogers asked, "Won't you be my neighbor?" My family began with Father, Mother, and two sisters.  As my awareness grew, so did my family, with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. My church family added more to my growing family group. As my world increased in size, so did family in school, college, Seminary and grad school. Along the way the way...

The house was quiet.  It was always quiet at 5:00 AM. I was able to study at this unearthly hour, so each morning, my weary body rolled out of bed. Consuming a cup of coffee helped. Oh yes!  My books and notes seemed blurry this morning. I guess it was the lack of sleep last night. Bedtime came at the normal time, yet, sleep escaped my body. The quiet was almost screaming at me. My eyes jerked open! What was that sound? Sound? It was more of a whisper. "Who's there?" I cried. No one should be here.  The kids were with my wife visiting relatives.  This was supposed to be my time to finish the project. Editors were calling for the manuscript.  I needed to complete it! More sounds...whispers... "Who's there?" I rose from the desk and tried to figure our where the sounds originated.  Quietness. There it was, again. A scratching sound, then a whisper. This was getting spooky.  I zoomed in on the direction and began moving, slowly,  toward...

The Travel Bug bit Grandma and Grandpa and away we went!   Number three child and wife invited us to visit in the far away land of Seattle.   The trip was almost a let down after the hype of traveling with a mask.   Yes, we wore our masks from the moment we entered Atlanta’s ATL, until we exited Seattle’s SeaTac. The land of air travel has many peculiar rules of which the most peculiar pertaining to masks, is the rule of social distancing.   First, there is nothing social about distancing.   My Mother taught me to be social by speaking to people, shaking hands and offering help to needy individuals.   We tried to speak to everyone we encountered but mainly received stares and muffled replies in answer to our efforts.   Most of our replies sounded like, “Gmmouff td mrffty yommmmth.”   We can only assume that our efforts sounded similar.   Our endeavors at hand shaking showed that to be a dying or dead art.   The closest movement to a ...

" The days are just packed,”   has become my byword since retirement several years ago.   Instead of a regular schedule of 9 to 5, my days could begin at 5 AM and go until 3 PM.   Another day might be a short one of 10 AM to 1 PM.   The rhythm and predictability are gone; five days of 8 hours’ work are a thing of the past.   The time that I so carefully spent working for someone else is now divided between sporadic teaching jobs, daily exercise, and writing assignments. Recently, my day was spent at the dentist.   Perhaps you can feel the excitement.   The need for dental care began the week before with pains in my jaw.   As any Senior citizen would do, I took pain medication hoping that my jaw aches would go away.   No such luck was in my corner and the pain continued, in fact, it grew worse and worse leading me to call our family dentist.   An appointment was granted and I entered the domain of…The dentist. Entering this domain is ...

  Have a heart!  If someone ‘has a heart’, they are kind and sympathetic. If you say, 'Have a heart' to someone, you are asking them to be understanding and sympathetic. If someone has a heart that is beating too fast and hard, one might say, ‘slow down, don’t move so fast.’   So…how does one slow down the fast beating heart? The medical term for a fast beating heart is Heart Palpitations.   It can be caused by anxiety, fear, a rich meal full of salt and fat, too much caffeine or chocolate and even too much sugar.   It seems that life can cause heart palpitations.   So, what is a heart patient to do? We can’t avoid life…well, we can…but I choose not to take that direction.   Let’s rephrase the question.   How can a heart patient avoid or limit heart palpitations in this life?   Can a heart patient live a rich, full, and meaningful life with the threat of heart palpitations looming over the next day? One might wonder, what br...

Running free, as in the movie, Born Free crosses everyone's mind at some point. The desire to "run around freely" with no encumbrances has surely crossed the mind of every child....and some adults that I know. We watched a small boy out of our window playing on the sidewalk with coat, long pants, backpack and flip flops. Mom walked inside for a few moments; sensing freedom, off came the backpack, coat and pants, and suddenly this heavy ladened child was completely free in his mind. He began moving around happily, running for the joy of running and completely happy in his pant-less state. Easter is all about freedom: freedom from my sin, freedom in the Salvation that Jesus completed for me. I am free to run happily and joyfully in my Savior's love. Next time you see a child strip down and run happily, think of the freedom that Jesus came to give You!

The days are rolling by.   This is the 9 th day of imposed isolation due to the Corona Virus.   Each day holds excitement and brings new challenges.   Waking up after a night of Corona dreams is welcomed and as the reality of the new day sinks in, this Grandpa wonders what new dreams are on the schedule? Nightly dreams have been a way of life for years.  ·          Dreams of family - living and passed on, ·          Dreams of animals – dogs, cats, rhinoceros, koalas, ·          Dreams of food ·          Dreams of helicopters – viewing and piloting ·          Dreams of jogging or even running The dream list is as endless as the night is long, or in some cases, short.  I have always been a dreamer, an active dreamer, much to the dismay of Grandma...