There are 1,130 frostbitten miles, mountain ranges, blizzards, hungry beasts, and frozen seas between Anchorage and Nome. This awful trek is the scene of the ultimate endurance test known as the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, where twelve huskies pull a sled and its driver through the most grueling, inhuman conditions one can fathom. One frequent champion was the late Susan Butcher, whose tough-minded fixation on winning earned her the nickname Ayatollah Butcher.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Christian Living
Releasing Impossibilities
When you face an impossibility, leave it in the hands of the Specialist! Refuse to calculate. Refuse to doubt. Refuse to work it out by yourself. Refuse to worry or encourage others to worry. Stand against that.
Read MoreUs and We, Not I and Me
Nobody is a whole chain. Each one is a link. But take away one link and the chain is broken. Nobody is a whole team. Each one is a player. But take away one player and the game is forfeited. Nobody is a whole orchestra. Each one is a musician. But take away one musician and the symphony is incomplete.
Read MoreExcuses
I’m a sports fan. I’m sure that comes as news to no one! For some strange reason, even when I was growing up, I could remember the most amazing details—okay, maybe “trivia” is a better word—about different ballplayers. You know, stuff nobody really cares to hear, but nevertheless sticks in my head . . . the way it does with most sports fans.
Read MoreTo All Teachers
I’ve never had a strong desire to be a teacher. Don’t get me wrong. I admire tremendously those who teach. It was a teacher in junior high who taught me to love science. It was a teacher in high school who got me hooked on history. Another teacher helped me overcome stuttering and learn how to speak in public . . . how to think on my feet . . . how to pace the delivery of words . . . how to use humor. And it was yet another teacher who passed along the practical techniques I still use in digging pearls out of scriptural oysters.
Read MoreA High Calling
Many professions draw public attention like warm watermelon draws flies. Those who practice them are constantly in the news. If it isn’t the money they make, it’s the company they keep or the trends they set or the controversy they spawn. Their notoriety is somewhere between amazing and appalling.
Read MoreYa Gotta Have Heart!
Getting a big job done calls for heart. Having a high IQ is not essential. Neither is being a certain age. Or possessing a particular temperament. You don’t even need the backing of the majority. History books are full of incredible stories of men and women who accomplished remarkable feats in the face of unbelievable odds.
Read MoreWings
“Grab here, amigo.” I grabbed. “Hold on tight, por favor.” I held on. “When you come back toward the shore and I blow whistle, you pull cord pronto!” Within seconds I was airborne. A loud “whoosh,” a long strong jerk, and I was three hundred feet or so above the picturesque beach at Puerto Vallarta.
Read MoreFacing the Facts
How’s it going with you and the kids? Maybe that question doesn’t apply to you. You may be single, or you may not have children, or you may have already raised your brood. If so, bear with me while I address those of you who are still in the process of training and rearing.
Read MoreOversimplification
In my younger years I had a lot more answers than I do now. Things were absolutely black or white, right or wrong, yes or no, in or out—but a lot of that is beginning to change. The more I travel and read and wrestle and think, the less simplistic things seem. I now find myself uncomfortable with sweeping generalities, neat little categories, and well-defined classifications.
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