Letters to My Granddaughter, No. 54

By | February 15, 2024

[February 15, 2024]  Fanny slammed on the brakes of the School Bus she was driving, and then, as she stood up, she turned around and yelled at us, mostly Junior High School kids from Bastrop.  “Shut up with that racket.  I can’t drive with all that screaming.”  That’s a close quote, as best I can remember, but I’ve… Read More »

Do Generals & Admirals Take Cognitive Tests?

By | February 14, 2024

[February 14, 2024]  First things first: Happy Valentine’s Day!  Now, on to a more serious topic.  Do U.S. military Generals and Admirals take cognitive tests?  The answer is ….. wait for it … “NO.”  That is the answer for good or bad, and I think the reason is that these senior leaders are surrounded by brutally honest professionals… Read More »

Israeli IDF Rescues Two Hostages

By | February 13, 2024

[February 13, 2024]  Alexandr Solzhenitsyn wrote that “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”1  If it were only so easy to find evil people and remove them.  Solzhenitsyn’s idea is that this is impossible. But some good news, the rescue of two hostages out of southern Gaza.  The daring rescue is… Read More »

Rich Cooper on the 10 Red Flags

By | February 12, 2024

[February 12, 2024]  The dating game.  It sure has changed over the past decade, and if you’ve not been paying attention, then you’ve missed some fantastic debates among men and women.  Rich Cooper “is an entrepreneur, private equity investor, content creator … and high performance coach.”  He often discusses “red flags” for women and I have a list… Read More »

The Story of a WWII Dad Hero

By | February 11, 2024

[February 11, 2024]  Occasionally, you hear about our World War II heroes.  Still, you never hear of them coming home from the battlefield and integrating themselves back into their hometowns, opening a business, marrying and having children, and being a pillar of their community.  Today, we have the daughter of one such hero, Susan Friedenberg, and I want… Read More »

What is the Purpose of Prayer?

By | February 10, 2024

[February 10, 2024]  The most basic definition of prayer is “talking to God.” Prayer is not meditation or passive reflection; it is a direct address to God.  It is the communication of the human soul with the Lord who created the soul.  Prayer is the primary way for the believer in Jesus Christ to communicate his emotions and… Read More »

First Steps for Little Feet

By | February 9, 2024

[February 9, 2024]  My wife Nancy alerted me to a book titled “First Steps for Little Feet in Gospel Paths,” initially copyrighted in 1882 by Charles Foster.  Her copy is dated 1913 with a handwritten inscription, “To Tommy from Aunt Jane and Uncle Maurice Easter – 1939.”  Nancy wanted to share one of the short stories. I want… Read More »

Changing Times in My Time

By | February 8, 2024

[February 8, 2024]  As a teenager, I saw that America was changing, sometimes fast and flashy like a county fair carousel and also slow and sleepy like a hound dog taking a nap on the front porch.  My parents would tell us kids about the “good old days” when they walked miles to school and then had to… Read More »

Letters to My Granddaughter, No. 53

By | February 6, 2024

[February 6, 2024]  Miracles do happen.  I’d been delivering newspapers on my bicycle back in my old High School days, just a few blocks from where I lived, and standing next to a green-colored, early 1950s Studebaker Champion car was this older man who looked meaner than dirt and older than Moses.  With his shirt sleeves rolled up,… Read More »