The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

As a young child, I developed a love for travel from road trips with my family. The destination was always predictable. We would either visit family in San Diego or my family in Baja California, Mexico. Being as I grew up in Central California in...

This week my positive praise is for our TEACHERS! We have 19 certified teachers in our K-12 district, 7 teachers in the elementary and 12 in the high school, six of those teachers travel between both buildings. Together they have more than 250 years...

In ancient Israel, every Jewish boy would learn the Torah in school. Specifically, they would memorize the Jewish religious writings starting at an early age until the rabbi teaching them decided they had reached their potential as students. At that...

Khrushchev, the former leader of the Soviet Union, used to tell a story about a factory guard who was posted at a lumber mill in Leningrad to guard against employee theft. One day, a worker came walking out of the factory with a wheelbarrow...

It won’t be the first time I didn’t know what to do. A paper requires a lot of advertisements to publish. I knew when I bought the Big Sandy paper that this would be a challenge for me. That’s not saying writing isn’t it, but I had been writi...

One of the hardest parts of professional pastoring is ministering to families in times of loss. It is hard because our natural inclination when folks are hurting is to try to fix it. We want to make the sorrow stop, but it’s impossible. You can’t...

Growing seasons are unpredictable in most parts of the country, and living here by the Missouri River is no different and sometimes worse! We always plan to plant our seeds in the garden around the 10th of May. Then we plant our plants and seedlings...

Over the third weekend in September, my high school class (‘69) celebrated our 50th reunion in the Bay Area of California. We were a class of about 250 students. I was quite a bit more socially inhibited in those days, so I pretty much kept to my...

I hate shopping for cars. I would probably enjoy it more of I had a lot more money, but as it is, I typically go into car buying with a strict set of rules and a limited budget. The worst part is when you talk to a salesman and he has you test drive...

I have a work out schedule I follow from week to week. It is Tuesday morning as I write this, and I will confess honestly that I dread going to the gym on Tuesday mornings. My Tuesday workout is very difficult. I have to push myself to finish it...

When you crest the hill into the Virgelle Valley, you will see the first glimpses of fall. The leaves are turning yellow, and the grasses have their fall hues. It is an excellent time to cut the dry grasses and flower buds for fall arrangements. This...

A while back, Apple added a feature to their iPhones that tracks the amount of time you spend looking at the screen and sends you a report at the end of the week. I usually don’t pay attention to this report because I get so many notifications...

I recently watched an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger where he talked about going from being a small, self-doubting kid to winning Mr. Universe 7 times. He described hanging photographs of boxers and athletes he idolized all over his room....

Last week, I listened to an interview with business coach/best selling author Steve Chandler. His business has been built up around the idea of being a “Time Warrior.” Put simply, he teaches folks how to overcome procrastination and accomplish...

My wife and I enjoy doing Escape Rooms. These are games where you are locked in a room and have an hour to escape by solving puzzles that provide you with keys, combinations, or directions for escaping the room. We have done a dozen or so over the ye...

Ancient rabbis used to tell a story about the Jewish exodus from slavery in Egypt. At the climax of the story, God parted the Red Sea so that His people could cross on dry land and escape from the pursuing Egyptian army. In the story, two men were wa...

I do about 30 chin-ups at the gym several times a week. I don’t like doing chin-ups, and I couldn’t do them for many years. I’d try and try and couldn’t quite get myself up over the bar. Then, a crazy thing happened one day: I did one. After...

A few weeks ago, my 6 year old son and I were at the community pool for swimming lessons (for him, not me). It was the last session of the week, and they typically just play in the pool for the hour. I asked my son to go down the big slide, which...

About 10 years ago, I started playing a Facebook game. It was one of those games where there’s almost no skill or thinking involved. A few of the guys I worked with started playing the same game, and before long we were discussing it at lunch and...

This week, I have been married for 21 years, and I am happy. I thank God every day for my wife and the life we have shared, good and bad. This isn’t to say we never disagree or fight. Rather, that I love her dearly and she is my favorite person in...