I cannot tell you exactly what the topic was, but I can tell you that this speaker on this day said “um,” “uh,” and “so” a lot! This stood out to me not as a critique, but as a reminder. I thought about my time as a member of Toastmasters International, an organization for public speakers who want to improve their skills. One of the many forms of training we received was how to minimize and ultimately eliminate filler words such as “um,” “ah,” “so,” and “uh.” We tend to use them to fill in the Continue Reading
Hugs in the Valley
Whenever my daughter gets into trouble, with tears streaming down her face, gasping for her next breath, she will ask for a hug. The question is: why does her heart long for us most visibly when it is broken? Perhaps, it is in the crevices of this brokenness that the good news of daddy’s affection for her is realized? Could it be that in this brokenness the good news of mommy’s admiration for her is remembered. Maybe, this is the moment when she suddenly recalls the good news told to her Continue Reading
Which Is It?
Is this pandemic an expression of God’s wrath and judgment? Is this pandemic a sign that the end times are beginning? Or is this pandemic simply the fruit of a fallen and sinful world? I can understand these questions being asked. I mean ... which is it? In Exodus God brought plagues “to make [us] see [His] power.” In Deuteronomy, God said disobedience to the Mosaic Law among the Israelites would result in Him striking them with “wasting disease, with fever and inflammation...” Then the Continue Reading