Living Real

This week has been one of extremes in this world we live in — well, not even the whole world — just in our nation. Tuesday we were introduced to Ted Williams, a homeless man in Columbus Ohio with a golden voice. A man did a video interview with the man for The Columbus Dispatch [...]

the following is a free chapter from Ramblings From the Shower | Integrity, Faith and other Simple yet Slippery Issues …impossible expectations “Lord, it’s so hard sometimes to be a servant in Your ministry when people put us up on pedestals from which we will undoubtedly fall. What do we do?” The music minister’s wife [...]

There’s an old saying, “all good things must come to an end.” I guess that includes vacations especially. I mean, if we could STAY on vacation, it wouldn’t really be vacation, right? This is the first time I’ve been on vacation that the coming home was difficult. Not because I didn’t want to come home, [...]

I’m learning that how you feel about how you look gets pretty much thrown out the window when you’re wearing a cast. Oh, I know, there are those who would accessorize it and make it so adorable. What I’m talking about is how you feel while wearing it. Imagine, my haute couture of this past [...]

My husband has such a servant heart and has gone for years dreaming about the truck he wanted, instead taking care of others with the money he could have used.  Last month we found a truck that fit his dream description. You can see the smile on his face when he brought it home. He’s [...]

The problem: arthritis in my hand — at the moment my left thumb. The pictures said there's little cartilage in the joint at the base. The solution of the moment: cortisone.  I don't know how many of you have experienced a cortisone shot. I got one Wednesday in the relatively tiny joint at the base [...]

I’ve heard people talk about how children shouldn’t be taken on mission and/or ministry visits with us older folks when we go. I’ve had the joy of seeing my grandson’s life changed because we have invited him to join us on our visits to serve the homeless and poor in Knoxville. He’s seven. He’s also [...]

Shawn Wood has done it again. Through his weaving of true-to-life stories with biblical truth, Shawn again points us to Christ as the One to  worship and adore and the truths that He taught as principles to be so finely integrated into our own lives that they become like oxygen to our lungs. Beginning with [...]

I was wakened this morning with the thought that just one short week ago, I was getting up and spending some time with God before going to visit with my friend Rich Willis and meet his wife Connie. I had gone to bed the night before, tired but excited about the meeting the next morning.  [...]

There are days when life seems so wonderful and nothing bothers us. Then there are days like yesterday. As I drove to my Bible study group, I heard on the news about a 16-month-old baby who had gotten away from his grandmother and into her neighbor's pool had died just moments before.  Just a couple [...]

Don't you love it when you read something in the Word and you know it's God speaking right to you? What about when you realize that it's meant for you to share it with others? That happened this mornng. As I've been working through the Beth Moore study: Esther, It's Tough Being a Woman, I've [...]

Pastor Darren Wigington preached on the home on Sunday, using Joshua 24:14-15 as his text. If you want to hear all of it, just get the audio from the church website. What I wanted to share today is the "practical stuff". Ten items that will help make any home better.  Sacrifice your time and energy [...]