Defenseless?

Image titled “I want my mommy” by anyjazz65

My wife Carol has an amazing affinity for animals of all kinds.  Our house is a virtual Noah’s ark of pets, including dogs, cats, birds, fish, and other assorted, furry varmints.  Each pet enjoys Carol’s special blend of care and attention.  She has a natural ability to communicate [...]

A Vision Of Two Worlds

I missed last week’s post.  I’m in danger of missing this week’s as well.  There’s so much to do…
When I was laid-off in February, I didn’t anticipate how busy I would be in unemployment.  In the last two weeks, I spent a day’s time applying for food stamps and almost two days reapplying for financial [...]

Stories From Unemployment 3

This post is dedicated to my friend David.  I hope you realize how many friends you have in your “network.”
In Praise of Networking
Exactly one month to the day now since I was laid-off.  I had my first phone interview last week regarding a great local job with a Fortune 500 company.  The position looks like [...]

Mind Your Pace

It has now been a little over a week since the layoff.  300 people were let go over two days.  One of them was my friend Brad, who used to work in the IT Department.  The two of us immediately decided to form a support group.
I don’t know how I would have gotten through the [...]

Skating Into The Moment

Sunday our boy scout troop went ice skating at the local rink in Newark, Ohio.  I’m a decent in-line skater, but I hadn’t been on ice skates since I was a teenager.  As it turns out, I’m able to ice skate as well as I roller skate, although my braking abilities leave a lot to [...]

A Quick Answer To A Prayer

Many of the posts to this blog have been inspired by my prayer journal, but I’ve never shared an experience directly out of its pages before now.  The following account is taken from my journal entries for Friday, February 20.
I started as I do most mornings with my prayer time at my desk before the [...]

Halfway And Just Beginning

It was my birthday last week.  I’m 48 years old.  Not a major milestone birthday like 50, but it got me thinking: this could be the halfway point in my life.  My grandmother celebrated her 95th birthday back in December and she’s still going strong; it’s not unreasonable to think of reaching 96 in my [...]

The Rainbow Shield

It was August of 2006 and we were flying over Illinois in a brand new Boeing 777.  I was in a window seat with a view of the port engine that was mounted under the plane’s wing.  It was overcast below us, the cloud tops forming a smooth, white carpet as far as the eye could see.  The [...]

Sign’s Up!

I have a confession to make: I’ve always prided myself on my intelligence.  I considered my mind to be my greatest asset.  I’ve almost always thought my ideas were better than everyone elses’.  And contrary to what I wrote in a previous post, I do like to play the role of the expert.
I know it [...]

Teaching And Learning Abundance

I just got the good news Friday: I’ve been selected to be one of the Scoutmasters for the Simon Kenton Council contingent to the 2010 National Boy Scout Jamboree.  I am so excited!  For twenty-five years I’ve been associated with the Boy Scouts as both a youth and an adult leader, but this will be the first time [...]