Opinions

You can hear a lot and even learn a thing or two from sitting across the table. It was 1994 and I was at a restaurant off 183 in Irving. Probably 6-or-8 guys were there to plan a large summer event. A college football player was in the group. You know the look… thick neck, a snarl for a smile and a penchant for eating their own. A waitress approached and began taking orders. When she got to the 240-pound linebacker, he uttered the classic words of hyena Banzai, from The Lion King. “I gots to have me a wildebeest!” he ordered in the voice of the character, by comedian Cheech Marin. The table laughed hysterically.

A brand-new year is here, and I’m excited to see what the Lord has for us! Keeping Christ at the center of our thoughts takes a great deal of discipline and determination, but so does everything else we really care about. We often hear people discussing their resolutions, which are serious intentions, desires, and promises they believe they can achieve. What are your goals and visions for the coming year? Would you like to draw closer to God and experience His peace and joy? I can tell you, according to His word, He loves you and waits for you to be more involved with Him. James 4:8, and Jeremiah 29:12-14 talk about this, but it will take more than just a whim. It will take a drastic lifestyle change.

American journalists have an obligation to the great unwashed masses, the general populace, to inform them of news and events objectively. Oftentimes the understood facts are viewed with disdain when they mention a person or group. Countering those who respond by blaming the reporting as showing partiality, makes the public’s right to know nearly impossible to accomplish. Here is an example. A common description of murdering a group of people can be worded in terms to soften or worsen the event. For example, a mass killing conjures up many thoughts or images. But, just how many people must die for that term to be used? Good question. I would say, ten or more. U.S. federal law describes a mass killing as an incident resulting in three or more fatalities in a single event.

I left the department store and eyed the sea of vehicles before me.

When it comes to country kinfolk, there were plenty to go around when I was growing up. Born and reared in Dallas, it wasn’t far from where my cousins lived. Just 50 miles from Big D, most of them were in Mabank, Kemp and Gun Barrel City back when Cedar Creek Lake was becoming a man-made lake in the early 1960s. There were 10 in my mother’s family - four of them uncles. One of them, Pat, would tell me stories about living in the country. He was 6-foot-6 and raced his Chevelle on weekends. On the streets. That last part made him fairly acquainted with the Law in Kaufman and Henderson counties.

I hate to brag, but retaping a package that was pre-peeked before Christmas morning was a mastered skill of this writer. The ability to align tape and wrapping paper required a dexterity and cleverness that led to a young life of covering my tracks. But like all peekers, cheap wrapping supplies were not tear-resistant back in the day. That’s where gumption came in, and a well-paced ribbon or bow would do the trick. Opening a box containing Hot Wheels track and small, toy racing cars was too tempting. Waiting until that morning was a waste of patience. Besides, my young acting skills were convincing, as surprise and shouts of “it’s what I always wanted” were the stuff of Academy awards, or so I told myself.

Given my advanced age, I have surely experienced a handful of Christmases which landed upon a Sunday.

Ever regretted your decision to trust again someone whose burned trust before? Yes, and it leaves you feeling that you should have trusted your intuition.

Since the death of my husband two years ago, God rest his soul, I continue to be contacted by financial institutions, credit card companies, travel agents and Medicare reps who have maintained his personal information and have a deal “he can’t refuse.” (So they think…) Initially I was dutiful in notifying each stakeholder of his death but believe me: NOBODY in ANY company wants to speak to a grieving widow about…well, much of anything. We widows are a very unpredictable lot, apt to cry, or shout, or ask for your advice on whether to change the tires on the car or paint the laundry room. Thus, it seems this grim responsibility within companies is assigned to the person on staff who was always late for work or didn’t make the sales quota—simply put, the employee who was on probation and had to serve time in Widow Assistance in order to return from purgatory.

Have you noticed that much of the time God works to accomplish His will, and not ours? We often wonder why certain events happen or do not happen, but when we consider that He has a certain vision and way of doing things, it can help us understand more about prayer, deeds, and faith. Does this mean that God depends on man for everything? Not necessarily. It’s true there is nothing He cannot do, but at the same time, because of His principles, He usually desires and waits for us to get involved. It’s not that He cannot do whatever He wants on His own, but He chose to develop a strategy for miracles that included working together with man’s faith.