Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com A man, who had already lost his beloved wife to an illness that had taken her life a few months earlier, had only one child. An adorable blonde-haired dark-eyed baby girl they had named Leslie Raynelle. Leslie was understandably the light of her dad’s life. Everything he did, everything he worked for, was focused on what was best for his little daughter. But then a catastrophic day came. The day when the man’s entire beloved hometown

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Have you ever noticed that those rigid rules you insist your kids obey rarely bring about long-term enthusiastic obedience? “Mom told us to not do that. Yay!!!” Instead, rebellion later on is usually the result. When your back is turned. When your kid is turned loose on his own. When you are not there playing policeman. When they get to a place in their life that allows a teen to make a few of their own choices, often a young person

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com  Your spouse feeling extremely ill and hurting, with no rapid relief anywhere in sight? Don't expect him to act differently than exactly what he is feeling. Physical illness shows itself very plainly in our behavior – take a quick look at a hurting and fussy little baby who feels no qualms at all in expressing just how bad her body feels. Dealing constantly with real pain can make anyone of us cranky and hard to be around at times.

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Ten-year-old Billy and his dad were going to eat at Billy’s favorite buffet-style restaurant. It was the boy’s birthday, and Dad had indulgently told him that he could have anything he wanted, as much as he wanted. Big mistake. Billy grabbed a plate and headed straight for the prime rib, steaks, roasts, and seafood bar. Without even a side glance at all the salads, vegetables, and fruits. As he began piling his plate with meats only,

Send responses to:  andybowman839@gmail.com       Parenting kids…tough stuff. And just think of doing that same job from God’s point of view. He’s responsible for the same…guiding you and me to become good adults. Not a job that you would hear me volunteering to do in a trillion lightyears. Just imagine. God: “Jimbo, go to work everyday and do your job well, then go straight home to be with your family when you’re done. So you can be the husband and father they need.” Jimbo:

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com If I was still a teen in high school, I would love AI. I could have my writing assignments for English done in a flash and be out the door. And have a lot better grades to show my parents than I did years ago. And later on, with those gnarly issues at work when I became an adult? “No problem, boss. I’ll just let my trusty friend who lives somewhere out there in NeverNeverLand figure it all out for me. I’ll get back to you on that in

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Old and slow-moving, nevertheless, Grace faithfully carried her blind rider on the snow-covered, lonely, and seemingly endless journey. There was no real visibility, due to the heavy clouds that hid the moon and stars.  But even if the moon had been as bright as the sun during that long night, the old man with his sightless eyes still would not have seen a thing. If left up to him, He could easily have wandered around endlessly, tryi

Send responses to:  andybowman839@gmail.com         You remember hearing and seeing the popular phrase, WWJD? ‘What Would Jesus Do.’ If you do, very likely you also remember often seeing the mocking curl of the lip of someone in the vicinity. That sentence  showed up everywhere and soon became trite and overused. And almost guaranteed to irritate anyone nearby. I can even remember hearing certain people as they would laugh and say, “WWJD….oh, yeah sure, me too. And I can give

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Hopelessness. That terrible, hollow, empty sense that makes you believe there is absolutely nothing that can change your circumstance. Notice I wrote ‘believe.’ Not just ‘makes you feel.’ You may be someone who has already spent an endless amount of brain juice and time hashing and rehashing, searching for a way out of your dilemma. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. And you have come to the conclusion that nothing can make the final results end

Send any responses to:  andybowman839@gmail.com     A mirror has a tough job.  To show you how fit, skinny or fat your body is. Your clothes have a tougher job, to make your body look good. Your body that is fit, ski…well, no need, you already have yourself categorized.  A washing machine’s job is to clean those dirty clothes you’ve had on your fit, skinny or fat body. The water in your shower or bath is to remove the dirt from your fat, skinny or fit body. A mirror reflects

Send any responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com “The chief fault and default position that seems to lead to the decline in the number of husbands and wives.”  A line taken from a song released decades ago, and recently re-released by Brookes & Dunn. Still so true today. The song is talking about Pride - the chief fault of us all. And invariably, the default position that every member of a couple falls back on, when they find themselves in an disagreement. Everybody wants to se

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Maybe it truly has been horrible all this time, maybe God did pick you out of all humanity to suffer badly your entire life. Maybe, just maybe, you were selected to show the world how a life of pure misery looks. No way out, impossible to change your destiny. You are designated to be the poster child for ‘ Life Without Hope or Happiness .’ But maybe, there is hope for you. Perhaps what you really need is a change of attitude, or a ch

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com If you are anything like me and a lot of other people in this country, you are sick. Sick and tired of so much around you. Things like, not being able to walk safely to your car in a public parking lot, traffic tie-ups that can keep you trapped on the interstate for hours, and constant scams being foisted on you to separate you from your money. Cons from ‘companies’ (and I use that term very loosely) that are worried about your car m

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com People are just people, everywhere you go. Everyone has their favorite hobbies and if given the chance, they would spend hours doing just that. And most of us also have heavy responsibilities that we avoid like the plague for as long as possible. As long as possible without wrecking our finances, or letting the house fall down around our ears. But only doing the great stuff? A truly adult life doesn’t work like that. Not unless you w

Send responses to:  andybowman839@gmail.com    Simply kick and scream and pout until God makes everything good for you again. Maybe that way of dealing with your problems seems like a good idea to you. After all, you have been told repeatedly all your life that He is a good and loving God, who always wants the best for you. So, it must stand to reason that if you let Him know in clear unmistakable terms that you are unhappy, He will have to fix what’s wrong. Right? You can’t

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Grandma Gertie is more than ready for Thanksgiving Day to arrive. For the first time in seventeen years, she is going to have her entire family home for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone has painstakingly arranged their holiday schedules to be able be together at Grandma’s house. Excited-beyond-measure cannot even begin to describe her emotions. For the last two months she has planned for her big day. The lists of things to do and to buy

Send responses to:  andybowman839@gmail.com     You received the phone call that buckles your knees. Or hear the police officer’s knock on the door. Or the doctor solemnly walks toward you in the hospital waiting room. And now you have just heard the worst news of your life. You’ve lost the most important person in your world. Or, maybe you opened the envelope that you assumed would be just another pay check, but found a pink slip. Or you meet with your physician to get the r

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Have you ever tried to help someone who doesn’t actually want help? Oh, they tell you they do. They call and beg for you to give them answers to their problems. But when you stop your busy life, put your thinking cap on, get creative and give them answers, suddenly you run into excuses, reasons and downright refusals. All couched in terms like, “Oh, good grief, no!” Or, “No, I can’t do that because…” Or likely the tried and true, “Yo

Send responses to:  andybowman839@gmail.com     It really is innocent looking, because it looks just like wet pavement. But it can be...

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com   Depression.  A word that absolutely can send dread coursing through the veins. Whether you...