The Power of Roots

“The provincial who cultivates only his roots is in peril, potato-like, of becoming more root than plant. The man who cuts his roots away and denies they were ever connected with him withers into half a man.” --John Graves, Goodbye to a River I have been re-reading “Goodbye to a River” recently.

Gratitude

When you write several thousand words a week, 52 weeks per year, it’s easy to lose track of what was written last month, let alone last year.

2 Cents Worth

I am Kentucky this morning and it's warmer in Kentucky than it is in Texas would you believe that. Kentucky is not pretty with the beautiful red, golds, and yellow trees this year.

Check Your Mirrors

As with most of the readers in this part of Texas, I grew up with a small-town indoctrination. The values that impact faith, family, economics, and education were primed right here in West Texas, the Rolling Plains, and the Panhandle.

Opportunities in Boomville

Al Harvey lives in Dayton, 37 miles east of Houston. It’s a city with an exploding population. “Dayton is growing extremely rapidly,” he says, “probably faster than most long time residents would like.” When he moved to Dayton 20 years ago it was a city of 5,000 people.

Faces & Places

“Could it be that Christians, eager to point how good we are, neglect the basic fact that the gospel sounds like good news only to bad people?” ~~Philip Yancey There is a lot of talk these days about Jesus's return, which is the world's end.

Early voting ends Friday; election is Tuesday, Nov. 8

Early voting for the general election ends on Friday, Nov. 4, with the closely watched governor’s race pitting incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott against challenger Beto O’ Rourke headlining the ballot.

Candy and Community

Last night was Halloween night. Lauren took the girls on a trick-ortreating adventure and I stayed home to pass out candy. Rather than sit inside and wait for the doorbell to ring, I dragged a camp chair out to the front porch.

2 Cents Worth

Good afternoon, I am writing this column from Texarkana tonight, we have had a beautiful trip coming across north Texas. We always travel 277 highway to Wichitia Falls, get on highway 82 and come on this way. It is almost a divided highway all the way and not very many trucks.

Truth!? … We don’t need no stinking truth

I have had a series of encounters with people over the past few weeks that when combined with later moments of reflection have reinforced a curiosity for questions that could have no discernible answers. The biggest one being: Just what the heck is wrong with us? It’s a terrible question, right?