#ObservationalMinistry

Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s I was a bit of a conundrum to my teachers (no comments from the peanut gallery!). I’d goof off in class but still do well on the tests. Sure, there were some subjects I was better at than others, but overall my classroom behavior and my scores usually… Read more

I had no more than finished my last post and decided to hop in the shower when the Spirit said, in no uncertain terms, “Not so fast, young man.” While I was trimming the beard and shaving, I started singing a song my Pappeye used to sing: “Shave and a haircut… two bits.” That’s fifty… Read more

Keys…. Man, back in the 80’s and 90’s my pants pockets literally got holes in them from ’em! It seemed like everything we had required a key, and no one key fit anything else. Then you go to a hotel… yup, a key. A job… a key. A key, a key, a… you get the… Read more

Speakers… I remember in the 70’s and 80’s we used to have them so big that to get them into the house you’d need a dolly, and you’d have to strategically place them far enough from the TV so the picture wouldn’t go wonky! Then by the 90’s “smaller was in,” and everything started to… Read more

TGIF … C’mon … You’ve heard it. Everyone’s always happy about “Friday” (depending on what your work schedule is, it may not actually be that day of the week). For years I couldn’t wait for Tuesdays myself. As a RadioShack manager, that’s when we could wake up two hours early, put on golf cleats instead… Read more

Y’all want me to let you in on a little secret ’bout me? I don’t sleep all that much. It’s somethin’ my mom and I had in common, and for years folks just thought we were weird. Come to find out, it’s a thing — rare, but a thing. Now, my Mama and Papa woke… Read more

My Papa (the bread man, not the auto-shop teacher — that was Pappeye; us Southerners are weird with our grandparent names, ain’t we?) used to have three favorite tools: If it was stuck and didn’t need to be — WD-40. If it wasn’t stuck and needed to be — duct tape. If it was bleeding… Read more

Makin’ my beloved’s tea this mornin’ means gettin’ back into “the groove” (and that’s about as close as you want me gettin’ to a Madonna song, trust me!). That groove is her reporting in for her first teacher duty day. Teachers report a week before the kids do… but most of them never really quit… Read more

How many of y’all have watched a social media video and, at some point, heard someone say “Like and Subscribe” so you won’t miss the next one? I would say you’ll never hear that from me… but, actually, you just did. So there’s that. I promise I try not to do it the way those… Read more

Dropping off lil’bit at the nursery before church this morning, I noticed something at the water fountain… because, well, I’m a noticer. The local watering hole between the WCs (that’s the fancy word for the indoor outhouses we have!) had a paper covering where the water was supposed to come out. Hmmmm… The paper warned… Read more

Lists… everyone keeps ’em. Your boss, your mom, your spouse, your friends… heck, even Santa checks his twice each year (though I’m pretty sure he’s using elf labor — is that allowed?!). But let’s face it: without them, it’d be chaos. Personally, I’d end up with 14 boxes of popcorn in the pantry and still… Read more

Livin’ in Central Florida means we’re a little (ok, a LOT) biased about space. Heck, when they created a new area code, it was 321! But even growin’ up in the Mountaineer state, I was fascinated with everything space. It’s… well… cool!!! And the more I learned about just how LITTLE those guys had and… Read more

Wanna know a secret? Way back in the stone age — you know, back when we walked 75 miles to school in 17 feet of snow, uphill, both ways — phones were actually for… wait for it… making calls. And we had to remember numbers, because they didn’t have them stored with pictures and stuff!!!!… Read more

Today we did a thing. Somehow our spice shelf… well, somehow the salt and pepper and garlic decided it must’ve been a festive atmosphere, so they invited a few friends who invited a few friends who invited a few… Well, you get where I’m headed. And what the heck do you put tarragon on anyway!!!???!!!… Read more

Didja ever just have a song pop into your head out of the blue… Just WHAM, there it is (wouldn’t it be weird if they’d have been the ones that sang it! … Just sayin’!)? Well… that’s what happened to me today. A song from a band that I didn’t really even like or listen… Read more