Welcome to my journal! I use this space to capture my thoughts and experiences from day to day, and for special events and activities in my life. I share these thoughts because down the road I’d like my children and grandchildren to know a little more about their Dad and Pop-Pop. I also like to share insights gained from my life experiences in the hope that readers can learn, take heart, and share their own thoughts and ideas on these pages. Encouraging, constructive, and sharing comments are welcome! Dissent is also welcome as long as it is civil, polite, and constructive, with the caveat that shaming, hateful, and other rude and insensitive comments will not be tolerated.
20250126 – God’s Time, Not Mine
Having recently passed the three quarter century mark has given me pause to reflect on the last 75 years God has gracefully granted me on this earth, and particularly on a few events which could have ended this passage much earlier. It makes me wonder exactly what is pure accident, and what may have been a God-incidence, God’s timing, or God’s plan. After all, as a follower of Jesus, I believe God created us and endowed us with free will. Consequently, we are free to make decisions and mistakes which affect God’s plans for our lives and may even result in injury or death.
Continue reading →20250105 – I’m Still Here
Yes, it’s been nearly a year since I posted, and I’m still here. My nightly prayer has been answered positively for nearly 365 days, just one more day with the love of my life. My resolution for 2024, to build a joy filled life, has been faithfully attempted every day. I have been able to start every day by counting … Continue reading →
20240112 – Getting on with Life
Yup, you guessed it, it’s 4:00 o’clock in the morning of another medically induced insomniac experience, and I’m pondering once again; this time the last year of what has seemed like Life: Unscripted, life on hold, life stalled, life constrained by physical limits, life lived fearfully rather than joyfully. And finally, it’s time to get on with life joyfully, more … Continue reading →
20240101 – Contemplating Joy
It’s a new day of a new month of a new year and I find myself contemplating a piece of wisdom a very dear friend offered in response to one of my recent musings, find joy in the simple things. Her approach really helps when you’re struggling mightily to hold on to hope in the midst of deep and serious … Continue reading →
20231229 – Finding My Purpose, the Main Thing
Continuing some thoughts from yesterday’s musings about life: unscripted, it seems important to elaborate on how I fill the unscripted part of my day(s) in ways that might not be so unscripted after all. I think it’s really important for all of us, and particularly those of us who are faced with situations that may dramatically affect the predictability of … Continue reading →
20231228 – Life: Unscripted
I awakened this morning thinking about how different my life is now compared to just one year ago. I’m by nature a planner. In business I always approached things with the philosophy ‘plan your work, work your plan’. They taught us in business school fifty years ago the key management functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling (the command … Continue reading →
20231222 – Family Lessons from The Hallmark Channel
Here we are again, deep in the throes of another steroid-induced insomnia night, but this time it’s a good thing. Why? I’m surrounded by my sleeping family, all of them (well, the immediate family as we think of ourselves)! My wife is in the next room; my son and daughter in law are at home next door, and my daughter, … Continue reading →
20231126 – Hi Elsie!
I was washing the breakfast dishes this morning and all of a sudden, there she was, my three and a half year old granddaughter Elsie Rose, just watching and expecting a conversation. So I told her about how excited I was for Christmas, when her cousins would be here having fun and opening presents. I told her a little about … Continue reading →