This past August, my wife and I celebrated our 58th Wedding Anniversary. Two weeks ago today, she had a total knee replacement surgery. Today, she is doing well while experiencing the normal aches and discomfort that goes along with the surgery. She is surviving well the care and food prep provided by me. Understand that this is not a brag about my caregiving, but rather what I want to convey in this article is that marriage is a commitment that requires the full 100% effo

(This week's article was written by my daughter, Jennifer Johnson, for sharing as a devotional with the Vista Grande Baptist Church staff where she serves as the Music Ministry Assistant. I am thankful for her willingness to let me reprint her devotional as the blog post for this week. By the way, her granddaughter is my great-granddaughter.) Lessons Learned from my 2.5-year-old Granddaughter by Jennifer Johnson 1. Mabel loves animals and can easily tell you what they a

The definitions of words and the use of those words can cause great confusion within the real world. Consider the two words that I have used in the title of this article - consistency and inconsistency. While there may be multiple definitions listed in a dictionary, my use of these words focuses on one specific definition listed for each. CONSISTENCY "the steadfast adherence to the same principles, course, or form" Synonyms firmness, hardness, organization, density INCONSIST

Before I retired, I knew that on Monday through Friday I went to work. Saturday was a day to relax or to catch up on chores around the house. Sunday was the day to go to church and join with other believers in corporate worship of our Lord. Then it was Monday again. Life had a routine. Sometimes that routine was broken by a time of celebration - a birthday party, an anniversary, someone's wedding, a gathering with friends for a ballgame, or a time away for a much-needed

In 1967, the movie Cool Hand Luke was released starring Paul Newman. One of the most famous quotes from a movie was spoken in that film by the captain of the guard to Luke (Paul Newman's character). "What we have here is a failure to communicate!" In real life that line could honestly be spoken in marriages, businesses, churches, government, and anywhere else that people gather to accomplish a common purpose. Words spoken in those settings include such phrases as . . . "I t

Advertisers have helped businesses sell their products by convincing us that we deserve those products. One tool and hardware company caught our attention with "You deserve the best." A cosmetic company told us that "You deserve to say yes." Of course, the most famous of these campaigns was released by McDonalds in 1971 with the slogan "You deserve a break today." Added to these slogans have been the use of celebrities implying that if we use the products they are promoti

Sunday, we were at church in the worship service. We sat with our daughter and son-in-law. A couple we did not know sat in the row in front of us. At the conclusion of the service, we all introduced ourselves. It was their first Sunday to attend our church and they were fairly new in our city. One of the usual questions is "where did you move from to come to Colorado?" They had moved from Texas and from the same city we had once lived. Then the lady and our daughter dis

The road behind our house is a major thoroughfare in a residential area. The road was widened and redone about 2 years ago. Apparently now, it is time to dig up a portion of it for some unknown reason. As a result, this four-lane, median divided road is now down to two-lanes on one side of the median so that the work can be done. While driving this temporary change is not fun, watching other people drive it and watching workmen mark the temporary path is quite amusing. Th

Everyone experiences the frustration of not being able to understand some things. Maybe it occurs in an academic class when Calculus or Quantum Physics take a jump forward that our brains failed to grasp. Or it could be when reading a play by William Shakespeare or a classic by Charles Dickens and we wonder what was that about. However, our failure to understand more often occurs because of the actions or behaviors of individuals, groups, or nations. Watching the evening n

For several years, my wife and I have enjoyed putting together jigsaw puzzles as a way to relax and keep our minds alert. Recently, we did a new puzzle entitled "This or That?" The puzzle was filled with sections asking the question of what you choose between two related items. Examples would be "pancakes or waffles," "milk or dark chocolate," "mustard or ketchup," or "coffee or tea." Altogether, there were probably about 50 different pairings. One of those pairings caug

Are You Ready? My, what an important but unspecific question. For what are we supposed to be ready? Dinner? Church? Bedtime? A Meeting? As a Boy Scout, our motto was Be Prepared. For what? For anything and everything! Be Ready, Be Prepared, and On Call all carry the same emphasis or meaning. Each one signifies that something or somethings must be done prior to the event or happening for which you are to be ready. While I don't remember the exact time or words since I was

Most of us would honestly affirm that there are some things we like and other things that we don't like. Have you ever wondered which list is longer for you personally? Have you ever noticed whether your lists are comprised mainly of inanimate objects or people. When George H. W. Bush was President of the United States, he gained a great deal of media attention when he announced, "I do not like broccoli, and I haven't liked it since I was a kid and my mother made me eat it

Wait. Don't delete this article yet. I promise that there are no dates to memorize, essay questions to answer, or promotional material to enroll in history classes. This is about the importance of the actual history and what it means to us. We are living through a period of time in which there has been a strong push to delete certain events from history, rewrite some historical events, and remove images that represent certain periods of history. Some of this emphasis has

When you go swimming, which end of the pool do you choose? As a child, no one in my family knew how to swim. While I enjoyed being in the water, I spent most of my time in the shallow end of the pool because I had not learned to swim. My first summer at Boy Scout Camp, I found out that a swimming test was required for placement in the pool. Many of my friends passed with flying colors and went to the deep end. I was a failure and wound up in the shallow end. At that mom

The Armstrong Browning Library is one of the best-known buildings on the campus of Baylor University. As a History and English Literature student, I spent many hours in that library and its classrooms. It is known around the world as housing the largest collection of books, letters, manuscripts and memorabilia related to Robert and Elizabeth Browning. The building and its contents didn't happen overnight. Dr. A.J. Armstrong served as chair of the English Department at Baylo

One of the questions asked often in church groups is "what is your favorite Bible verse?" Regardless of denomination of the church, the most frequent answer is John 3:16. Even among persons who do not attend church and may not be Christians, John 3:16 is often listed as a favorite Bible verse. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16 Why do people state that John

In a few days the United States of America will celebrate its 250th Anniversary. The document we refer to as the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 2, 1776, and signed by 56 men on July 4, 1776. In essence, it was an official break-up document separating the American colonies from Great Britain and its King. John Adams felt that the decisive vote for independence on July 2 should be the anniversary date. He wrote to his wife Abigail these words: "The second d

Five years ago, my wife and I moved to Colorado Springs. We could have moved to San Antonio, Texas, where our son lives or here where our daughter lives. Both of our children would be great to live near, but the summer heat in Texas had just become too much. This was not our first move. Mary grew up in Billings, Montana, and I grew up in Temple, Texas. We met at Baylor in Waco, Texas, and married between our junior and senior years of college. As a couple, we have lived

During the end of May and in early June, high schools and universities across our nation hosted graduation ceremonies. Students received high school diplomas, college students had bachelor, masters, and doctorate degrees conferred upon them, and numerous other schools honored students with various other degrees and certificates of completion. Our youngest grandson was in that number of high school graduates in the Class of 2026. Now, it is off to college where he joins his

During my years in college and seminary, my eyes began to experience tiredness and some blurriness with all the reading that was required. The optometrist prescribed glasses for me with some correction in the lenses to help me with the reading. Over the years, my eyes have continued changing with age, and stronger and different lenses have been prescribed to help improve my vision. About two months ago, the optometrist said that new glasses were no longer the answer and he