aging | Branches Blog

6/17/24 MondayMatters: Leaving A Legacy Behind

Written on June 17, 2024 • 0 Comments

https://youtu.be/5R7h2TPUjec?feature=shared

We all desire to leave a legacy, to make a mark on family and friends that will impact them for good long after we are gone. Sometimes, the pain of the legacy we inherited is so great we cannot imagine changing our legacy for the better. But we can. We can leave the legacy of our past behind and start a new one. Here are 7 steps.
1. Start today.

2. Accept personal responsibility.

3. Choose to forgive.

4. Accept the present.

5. Reframe your story,

6. Believe that life can change.

7. Make some concrete plans today to change.

Paul says, “Forgetting those things which are behind, I press on.” Press on!

On Fathers and Sons

Written on June 16, 2024 • 0 Comments

There is a “sermon illustration” that is told that in the prisons when the prisoners are offered Mother’s Day cards to send to their mothers, the response is overwhelming. Thousands upon thousands of cards are provided and sent each year, But, so the story goes, when the same offer is made on Father’s Day,… Continue Reading

4/29/24 MondayMatters: Seasons of Life

Written on April 29, 2024 • 0 Comments

https://youtu.be/e4d40ytW8g4?feature=shared “There is a time for all things. Everything has a season.” The writer of the Wisdom Book was talking about more than summer and fall. Perhaps one of the most important adjustments in life is the recognition that we are constantly transitioning from one season to the next. Here are some thoughts about that… Continue Reading

3/14/24 Lent Psalm 80 Repeat After Me

Written on March 14, 2024 • 1 Comment

3/14/24 Lent Psalm 80 Doris and I are at an age in life where every statement we make at home is answered by “what?” “Did you get the mail today?” “What?” “I need to go to the grocery store.” “What did you say?” “When did you have your hearing checked?” “What about cashing a… Continue Reading

3/4/24 MondayMatters: Suddenly

Written on March 4, 2024 • 0 Comments

https://youtu.be/k6jX0fadP0g?feature=shared Life can turn on a dime, change in an instant, be different at the drop of a hat. We have all kinds of phrases to describe the sudden happenings that we face in life. The question is not, “Will you face the suddenly’s.” The question is how well. Here are some thoughts the sudden,… Continue Reading

3/4/24 Lent Psalm 71 The Old Gray Mare

Written on March 4, 2024 • 4 Comments

Today is my sister’s birthday. I am not saying she is old, but she can see it from where she is. 😊 Now that I’ve started the day by making her mad, let’s get to the psalm. It is a psalm of growing old. Verse 9 says, “Do not cast me away when I am… Continue Reading

7/31/23 MondayMatters: Grandparenting

Written on July 31, 2023 • 0 Comments

How do you connect with your grandkids? How do we talk to the younger generation in general? Here are five things to remember when you are working with the young people in your life. Remember they are people. Remember they have personality. Remember they have parents. (And you are not them.) Remember they are the… Continue Reading

5/8/22 Monday Matters: Respect the Office

Written on May 9, 2022 • 0 Comments

Mother wounds and father wounds are perhaps the most painful emotional wounds of all. The pain we carry from the very people who were supposed to protect us is at the core of most of our emotional struggles. And yet, the Bible says, Honor your father and mother. Here are some thoughts about respecting the… Continue Reading

History Lessons

Written on January 1, 2018 • 14 Comments

I have always liked history. My 8th grade history teacher was named W.W. Davis. Isn’t that cool? If you grow up with the initials W.W., you are destined to be a history teacher. He had horned rim glasses and a handlebar mustache. He always wore a bowtie to class and he fiddled with it when… Continue Reading

The Paper

Written on April 22, 2014 • 2 Comments

I loved breakfast at church camp in Batesburg, SC. We would stand in line outside the canteen, waiting for them to unhook the screen door and let 60 sleepy-eyed, bed-headed, teenagers stumble in to heaps of sausage links, scrambled eggs, and a huge pot of grits slathered with butter. We couldn’t even spell cholesterol in… Continue Reading

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