As a child, David Vaughn dreamed of making it as a player in the National Basketball Association. As a young man, the Memphis native realized his dream by signing a multi-year deal with the Orlando Magic. With a $600,000 paycheck, the former first-round draft pick was living large. On the road, he stayed pampered at the Ritz Carlton. At home, he lived in a mansion and collected far too many cars. Money slipped through his fingers as the purchases for jewelry and clothing skyrocketed.
Putting the Pieces Back Together Again
Storm clouds were beginning to gather over the mountains. Rain was coming and the late summer thunder rolled in the distance over the town of Monument, Colorado. I glanced at the clock in the car.
7:00 PM.
It had been a long day—actually a long few days. Turning into the driveway, the running lights swept across the bushes, guiding me into the garage. My ride home from the airport had been uneventful, but I was exhausted.
The Warrior in WAL-MART
Does your community undergird or undermine your role as a parent?
It doesn’t take much effort or energy to find examples of bad behavior in our society. Turn on the television, surf the Internet, pickup the daily newspaper. Because “noise makes news” our kids are regularly assaulted by images and stories that contradict Judeo-Christian values and just plain common decency. We lament how communities no longer hold kids accountable like they once did. How often we find ourselves bemoaning the loss of heroes and colorful characters in our communities to whom our children might look to for guidance and even accountability.
Silence is Golden
A couple of days ago I blogged about our recent family vacation in which the four of us went completely “dark”—we exchanged the television, the radio, and the Internet for some serious peace and quiet. Even if we had wanted to use our cell phone, there wasn’t any coverage. All of the electrical umbilical cords tethering us to the frazzled pace of life had been cut.
This was by design. Jean and I planned the trip to have no contact with the outside world which, for five glorious days, allowed our family to pull inward.
Fun and Fear
Sometimes, a little fear can wind up being a lot of fun—instructive, too.
Jean and I took the boys camping last week up to beautiful Mueller State Park, a picturesque spot located just outside the town of Woodland Park, Colorado.
Our site was perfectly situated; a cozy corner of land nestled among towering pines and an Aspen tree grove. It was great not to have the pressure of keeping a schedule. To borrow a phrase, we had “gone dark” once arriving in the park.
Skipping or Plunking Along
In Russia, it’s called “baking pancakes”, in Poland, “letting the ducks out,” in Ireland, “skiffing” and in the Ukraine it’s known as “letting the frogs out.” But in our house, and I suspect in yours, too, it’s simply called “skipping rocks.”
A few nights ago, after a long day at the office and an hour or so before the sun set behind the mountains, I took our boys, Trent and Troy, over to Monument Lake to teach them the fine art of skimming stones.
The Lure of Fictional Legends
Somebody once suggested to me that the majority of successful entrepreneurs usually have two things from their past in common: The loss of a parent at a young age—and a paper route.
I was reminded of that while reading the Wall Street Journal recently. Douglas Belkin’s piece this past Saturday titled, “Superman Birthplace is Restored,” offers some interesting background information on the creation of the famous comic strip-turned television-turned movie character. And it actually has a lot to do with what we’re trying to do here at Focus on the Family.
When Sorrows Like Sea Billows Roll
By now you’ve heard about the murder of a wealthy Pensacola couple named Byrd and Melanie Billings. They were found shot to death inside their nine-bedroom home this past Thursday night, the apparent victims of a robbery gone bad. Late Sunday night, police investigators announced the arrests of two suspects, though more are expected.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said, “We are very anxious to share this story … it’s going to be a humdinger, I’ll tell you that.”
Actually, it already is.
Help Me, Hillary
A remarkable event happened recently which was largely ignored by the media. Earlier this year Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accepted the 2009 Margaret Sanger Award, the highest honor offered by Planned Parenthood, named after their founder, a noted eugenicist. If you’re unfamiliar with eugenics, it’s an approach to “improving” the human race through the process of “selective breeding.” Yes, for those who know about World War II, this was one of many theories embraced by the Nazis.
Dinner: the Antidote for Risky Behavior
Ken Windebank, a colleague of mine, likes to ask a question of people, and I have begun to do it myself. The question is simple, “What’s one thing you did well as a parent?” The other day, for instance, I was meeting with a very successful financial manager in Southern California. I’ll call him Gary. I asked Gary that question and, after a brief pause, he said, “The best thing we did was to have dinner together as a family every night.”
Eating dinner together?
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