A scream of release was let out today by my first-born son, as he celebrated his last day of class in his school career. I think career is a good word for it, since learning has been the focus of his life for the past 18 years. Yet, somehow, as I look at the little boy … More His Last Day of School
Written: July 17, 2016 Yesterday, I had a new experience in life — I participated in escaping from a room with a group of ten people. I did this because it was my sister’s birthday, and I wouldn’t want to do anything to damper her birthday — and I had fun, I must admit. However, … More The Escape
Written: July 5, 2016 I have to post one more last picture before I stop talking about my weekend. This is of Nathan Ghattas, my traveling partner, my son. When I made plans to travel so many months ago, Nathan willingly agreed to go — no clue of what was ahead. I’ve dragged him through … More The Road Trip
Written: June 19, 2016 Though I know I’m not the only one missing my dad this Father’s Day, I realized only just yesterday that on this particular Father’s Day both my boys and myself would both be experiencing the first Father’s Day without our father. Wow, that came as a shock. While I’ve enjoyed 52 … More Missing Fathers
Written: May 30, 2016 We experience the touch of God many times through the compassionate acts of others. During the recent loss of my father, the Lord showed me the depths of His love through two of my great nephews, Thomas Jackson and Kyle Lamons. In Thomas, I saw the depth of a child’s love … More Selfless Acts of Kindness
Written May 15, 2016 It’s been a hard week, as we’ve said goodbye to my dad, Tom Brown. As the five of his children were together, with grandchildren and great grandchildren too numerous to count, my brother Steve Brown made the comment that the five of us all remember Dad in a different way, as we lived … More Another Good-bye
Psalm 127:3 reads: Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord. Though the passage goes on to talk about having a quiver full of them, Raouf and I always joked about starting too late in life to fill our quiver, but I have blessings enough from these two sons to make up for a … More My Blessings have Names
Written: Jan. 24, 2016 I am beginning to put materials in order to try to write about the adventures of Raouf Ghattas in some form. I’m already finding that I get distracted easily, such as the 20 minutes I just took in looking through the list my dad still had of all the stuff we … More Stuff
Today is the 6 month anniversary of my father’s death. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe I’m grieving for the two most important men in my life at the same time, but then the 14th comes around, and I think: “Wow, another month has gone by already.” I miss my dad, and think of him every … More The Good Outweighs the Bad
Last night I was visiting my sons in Cookeville, TN, where they go to college. After attending a fundraising dinner for the Baptist Collegiate Ministry, we came back to their house. Within 30 minutes their small living room was full of friends, laughing, pulling out instruments to play, and talking about what was happening in … More Not your typical college students
