It’s both frightening and exciting to realize life is an unpredictable adventure
My father had too much to drink only once, that I remember. It was the day he lost his job. Forty-two years old when he and my mother married, he was already well-established in his career.
He had lived through the Depression and served in the war. He knew a man’s role was to work and support the family.
But life never rolls out like you expect, and when he lost his job, our lives veered off on a different trajectory.
He wasn’t able to find another job right away, maybe because of his age, or maybe because career prospects…
Satire
“Baywatch caused as much harm as Facebook,” say damaged Millennials
After the Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook and Instagram make body image issues worse for teenage girls, Millennials weighed in with their own Me Too moment.
“If congress investigates Facebook and Instagram, they need to investigate Baywatch,” said Emma Bodsobad, who claims she was irreparably harmed after watching 1,246 Baywatch episodes.
“Teens think Instagram selfies are traumatic for the average girl’s body image. They should try watching Baywatch,” she added.
Another Millennial, Ashley J, agreed. “I have undergone 36 cosmetic procedures because of Baywatch,” she confided with the understanding that her last name not be used.
“First it was…
And what we can do about it
My daughter-in-law didn’t want anything to do with me. Had I been bossy, offensive, critical? I dredged my memory for slights, intentional or unintentional, and couldn’t come up with anything.
She and my son lived in a different state, and on their first visit to our house, she got him to drop her off at Panera Bread Company every day at 8 a.m. and pick her up at 6 p.m. Then she went to bed at 9.
She told my son’s friends she hated his family.
I searched the internet for information about building positive relationships with in-laws, but most…
Usually I try to avoid controversy
I don’t often check the Nextdoor Neighbor posts that land with annoying regularity in my inbox. There are only so many hours in a day, and we can spend those hours on some kind of social media, or we can get busy doing something.
There’s also this: I don’t like controversy. In addition to its time-sucking potential, social media has the ability to get me riled up and into something controversial. And while being riled up provides a temporary adrenaline rush, the rush is always followed by regret at having jumped into the fray.
But this morning, off my guard…
Humor
It’s a southern custom that needs to disappear
The other day my husband and I were sipping beer at The Bistro, an outdoor cafe that overlooks a golf course.
A large, loud man with a poof of blonde hair and a scraggly blonde goatee waxed eloquent at the table next to us. He and the woman he was with, who was also large, loud, and blonde, hovered over a couple seated at the table. From what I could overhear, they didn’t seem to know each other; just a few gregarious people introducing themselves.
Soon the blonde couple said goodbye and headed toward the golf course, but not before…
But not for the reasons you might think
A couple of years ago, my sister-in-law told me the terrible story of John Chau. He was a 26-year-old American missionary killed by the isolated Sentinelese people after he illegally went to their island, part of the Andaman Island chain near India, to teach them about Jesus.
“That was a stupid thing to do,” I said, agreeing with her that John Chau’s actions were misguided.
My sister-in-law’s son, in seminary school studying for the ministry, had met Chau several years earlier. …
Humor
Put us in an airplane instead of a car any day
My daughter-in-law and I have a major thing in common. We hate to drive on busy highways and interstates.
We loathe driving in heavy traffic so much that we will go to extraordinary lengths to avoid it.
Before she moved to a new house, she commuted an hour to work, although she could have gotten there in less time. But she took the back way, bumping along on gravel and country roads.
When I was summoned to jury duty, which meant driving in downtown Atlanta, I drove to the South Carolina DMV, turned in my Georgia driver’s license, got a…
Our schools are a mess and nobody knows what to do
My granddaughter was seriously ill with Covid-19 this summer. Too young for the vaccine, she also falls in a high-risk group. I breathed a sigh of relief when she finally texted me saying, “I feel better today, Grandma Bebe.”
Completely recovered, she has now started sixth grade and loves it. She, along with her siblings, stayed home for virtual learning last year. Her brother hates school and would just as soon stay home forever, but she missed her friends, the structured learning environment, and the extracurricular activities.
My son, her father, said he is glad she already had Covid, because…
Why we should teach our children to examine their reasons for believing
Some Christians frown on the idea of defending their faith. One friend said basing his beliefs on anything factual showed he didn’t really have faith, so he tried not to think about it intellectually.
But nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible encourages us to be ready to tell others why we believe the way we do.
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)
Jesus performed hundreds of miracles so people could see, then believe the evidence.
In Matthew…
It’s like getting a new lease on life
This morning I woke to the greatest feeling. It took a few minutes to realize where it came from. I was happy not to be writing for NewsBreak anymore!
I got the email two days ago. They consider me a valued creator, are happy to have me in the creator program, I will get my own special icon (whatever that means), but the base pay per article is gone.
This wasn’t unexpected. A lot of NewsBreak writers had their base pay dropped several months ago and I couldn’t understand why mine wasn’t. Once a month, like clockwork, I would get…
