Tag: encouragement
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Daddy’s First Car
Early in my nursing home ministry days, I purchased a digital audio recorder, to capture some of the fascinating stories the residents shared. I loved the one told us by a ninety-year-old lady about how the children in her one room schoolhouse crowded around one of the few radios in their community to hear President…
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From Darkness to Light: Stories of Encouragement
I read a story the other day about a young girl who eloped from a shelter for troubled teens in the wee hours of the night. She was found in the woods a few hours later, not by the police, but by a female janitor from the local school. When asked how she knew where…
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The Triple-A Approach to Helping Someone in Need
After I left full-time ministry, but before I became a teacher, I spent three years in sales with Frito Lay, Inc. I was a Route Sales Rep, which is a front-line position selling salty snacks to grocery and convenience stores. One day, my boss was helping me set up a huge display of potato chips…
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Building Legacies Through Kindness and Faith
This year when I reported back to work as an elementary assistant principal, I noticed some new faces. As I introduced myself to an assistant principal who looked older than me, and I’m a middle-aged guy, I assumed she was someone who retired, and then was rehired. When I told her my name and asked…
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Finding Meaning in an Open Closet Door
It started simply enough. Shortly after we remodeled our home, I found a closet door open in the back hallway. “I must have forgotten to close it after I was in there last night,” I convinced myself. But it kept happening. “Sweetheart, were you in the back hallway closet yesterday? I noticed it was left…
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Lessons from Dead Flowers and a Squeaky Door
The PR person from a local bank contacted me, wanting to buy fifteen cases of single-serve potato chips for a community barbeque. “Yes, I can fill the order,” I said, as a proud route sales rep with Frito Lay, Inc. The next day the manager of the bank called, saying she found the product at…
