How easily are you offended?
Are you like the students at the University of Missouri (and other universities) who demanded an “offense-free zone”—a place on campus where their tender sensibilities are protected? Or can you handle a bit of mud coming your way?
Everyone is so concerned about avoiding offense, that political correctness has reached new heights. In the land of the free, we’ve lost the freedom to have a differing opinion.
Here’s a sign you don’t see every day…
Taken at the entrance to the U.S. Air Force Academy. Aren’t we trying to deter this sort of thing?
This may come as a shock to you, but did you know that Christians lie? Yup, we do. In fact, our pastor recently listed five lies we commonly tell, things we say in the church that really are downright falsehoods. While we all laughed as he expounded on each item, at the same time I bet a lot of people were convicted—I know I was! I thought our pastor’s insights were worth sharing, so here we go:
I was going to post some thought-provoking, deeply insightful comments about something I noticed in Matthew 26 during my Bible reading this week. Honest I was. Then I made the mistake of cruising through my Facebook feed, and I found this gem, shared by my brother-in-law. It’s just too good to pass up.
Please note that the “blog” featured here isn’t real. LarkNews.com made it up to prove a point… and a good point it is. In fact, the rest of their blog is pretty funny too. I recommend it.
Know anyone like this? Could it be me? Now I feel compelled to go back through my Facebook posts and see if I’m guilty. Yikes!
My original post for today has been rescheduled for next week. See you then.
Thanksgiving is over. While some of us have jumped the gun and started decorating for Christmas, Black Friday acts as the starting gun for the full-fledged marathon. We now have permission to hum “All I Want for Christmas” and other spiritual carols, erect plastic snowmen in our yards, and go shopping!
In general, I do not like to shop, especially for myself. I consider it a chore, not a recreational activity. But with our family’s birthday season in full swing and Christmas only a month away, I’ve been going outside my comfort zone—actually visiting stores and looking through catalogs. I have to admit, shopping for others can be pretty rewarding.
Thanksgiving. That lovely holiday, with the family gathered around the table. Soft music plays in the background, snow gently falls outside. Dad is carving the succulent turkey while the children sit quietly in their seats, mouths watering. The conversation circles the table as each person describes the many things they have been thankful for this past year.
Thanksgiving, that hectic holiday. Mom is trying to gather the family, put the final touches on the dinner, pour the drinks, and carve the turkey, all at the same time. At one end of the table, Aunt Mattie is well into yet another stomach-turning description of her recent root canal. At the other end, Uncle Milt has clearly imbibed too much eggnog. Grandpa is complaining that the pouring rain is making his rheumatism flare up. The eight-year-old twins are poking one another with their forks and fighting over who will get the drumsticks, while the football game blares from the TV in the next room. No one has seen Dad in the several years since he ran off with that floozy account manager.
It’s the fifth Friday of the month, and the perfect time to take a break. Today, instead of writing a post, I figured I’d let these photographs do the talking. Enjoy!
Karin and I found this house at the beach in Oregon. We hope they don’t walk in their sleep.
Seen in a store window in Johnson Corner, Colorado:
This Erie, Colorado dairy is clearly in trouble:
I found this sign planted in front of the Poquoson Middle School in Poquoson, Virginia. Must have been a rough year for Ms. Sanderson!
The internet is a strange and wonderful place. You can find information on pretty much anything, from how to blow your nose (over 100,000 Google results!) to a life-sized photograph of a blue whale. And everyone knows that mixed with the fascinating facts and helpful tips is an tremendous pile of pure, er, nonsense.
I recently came across a website that might take the award for “most audacious” among the myriad of con artists trying to swindle suckers out of their cash. These guys should receive a Pulitzer prize for their skill at sounding scientific while spouting unbelievable quantities of double talk.
Life is fatal.
Just by being born, we know that one day we are going to die. And while none of us knows the exact number of our days, there are some things we can do, or not do, that might affect when we succumb to our mortality.
More specifically, some of us are risk takers, while others of us prefer to be more conservative with our lives.
One of our daughters works at a small design company. The owner is pretty much fearless. He travels to parts of the world most of us would be happy to avoid. And once there, it seems that he looks for trouble. While he has some pretty amazing stories, he’s not the travel companion most parents would wish for their 28-year-old daughter.
However, since this is a design firm, creativity is a requirement. To get his designers thinking outside the box, the owner likes to shake these mostly young and single artists out of their comfort zones. Recently, this email was distributed to a number of employees:
Compost 