Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Have you ever had the chance to watch quail in the evening when the sun is setting? Those tiny birds make it very clear; they want home. And home to them usually means gathering in a circle of other quail, with their heads toward each other and tails outward. If you sit quietly nearby their chosen roosting place as the day closes down, you can hear a rustling in the air, as quail after quail arrives and settles in for the night.

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Pappa and his two small great grandsons were having fun playing in the park on a gorgeous afternoon. Kicking around a soccer ball, they soon decided to start a game. Well, a loosely-termed version of the game of soccer. The kind of game that has very few boundaries or rules. Or at least, rules that Pappa and the oldest grandson agreed upon. At his tender age, Pappa’s four-year-old great grandson, the youngest, had little understandin

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com A person lied, absolutely no doubt about it. Carefully thought it out, then purposely and deviously worded their misleading statement to you or a group. Usually, they have a definite motive, and protecting people is rarely their purpose. Usually, their reason is rooted in self-protection or self-promotion. “If I tell the unvarnished truth, I will look like a fool, and I can’t bear that.” Or, “I don’t have to tell the whole ugly trut

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Little Judy was full to the brim with questions for her daddy. She was watching the city’s annual July 4th parade for the very first time, and the marching bands, the prancing horses, the enormous floats and the gaily decorated convertibles carrying the town dignitaries were absolutely fascinating. She wanted to know everything. Not content to just watch the colorful and noisy displays that passed endlessly before her seat on the sid

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com The elderly president had been with the company for so many years that no employee there could remember a time he wasn’t slumped over his desk, muttering about the ineptness of the younger generation. It was true, he was extremely knowledgeable of the company and all it provided for the business world, but it was also true that he was very disliked. Detested and avoided like the plague, but yet, almost indispensable. Much like the a

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Absolutely nobody I’ve ever known loves to go to see the doctor. In fact, we usually put up with pain until it becomes pretty unbearable, and only then do we begrudgingly drag ourself to visit that dreaded human being. And whether it is only a forty-eight-hour recovery by using an antibiotic the doc prescribes, or it turns into a long haul, it simply doesn’t matter. The next time we again feel ourself getting sick, we will put off th

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Six-year-old Darren was on a first-time visit to the farm. His Pappa had arranged for him to get to see a part of this world that Darren never even knew existed. A real live working farm with all the corrals, fields, outbuildings and animals that a farm needs. Including horses. Darren spent an hour or so tentatively getting to know the horses that looked like giants to the tiny boy on the ground beside them. But every offer from the

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Fireworks at home on the fourth of July? Almost a given in a large percentage of American homes on that day. If you think that getting fireworks from your local roadside seller is just too expensive? Well, they are nothing compared to the real home-made variety - explosive family arguments. The actual cost of the fireworks we create and ignite at home is astronomical, and most of us don’t even realize it. Here is a version of a typ

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com This middle-aged female had a calm about her, even though her face was lined and shadowed. Past years of unmistakable bitterness and disillusionment were still etched into her face. But yet, her green eyes shone with a love of life, and she carried herself with self-confidence. Intrigued with the difference between the harsh wrinkles on her face and the glowing peace she conveyed, I finally asked her what had obviously happened at

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com The longer I live, talking and being with people, the more I realize that there is no one-way-only-lifestyle that is completely normal. For instance, my present lifestyle seems absolutely normal to me. But President Trump probably feels the same way about his lifestyle. So does the grandmother who is living in the poverty-stricken Brick Kiln District in Pakistan. Each person feels that their accustomed style of living is pretty close

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Think you have found your absolutely perfect dream home? Better make certain that amazing home you’ve found isn't situated near the local garbage dump. Even a 4500 square foot house, equipped with solid gold fixtures, with its own 18 hole golf course and a piano shaped pool off the pillared back patio can soon lose a lot of its allure and charm. All that glitz and glitter won’t matter very much when the wind decides to constantly blo

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Four-year-old Jimmy stood motionless beneath the large bucket balanced above him. A bucket that held a lot of cold water already, with water being added constantly from the never-ending stream feeding it. Shivering in anticipation, Jimmy watched as the water level steadily inched upward. Then it happened. The slightly off-balance bucket suddenly reached its tipping point and completely doused the boy, causing him to run away scr

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Lost terribly at the family game of cards? Tear up that score card and put it out of your mind. A silly little board game is not worth thinking about and ruining your day. But you know that. Or you should. Your fiancé lets you know that after thinking about your relationship, you just aren’t the perfect one? Go ahead and sob brokenheartedly for a while, mope around the house in your pjs, eat a gallon of chocolate ice cream, get angr

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com If you are in one, it’s a scary thing. With a lot of anger, defeatism, anxiety, and damaged pride as shipmates. But, maybe you still feel that you would rather patch the holes that are rapidly taking on water, rather than just bailing out. Maybe you feel the kids deserve a home with both a mom and a dad in it. Maybe, just maybe, you believe that what you two had, at one point in time, is still worth fighting for. If so, then let’s ta

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com The office was in its usual Monday morning subdued chaos, nothing new about the muffled exclamations, one-on-one conversations, and general hubbub. But still, there was a decidedly different element in the air. The reason? The new chief-of-staff was beginning his first day in the office, and everyone was feeling slightly jittery with quite a few unanswered questions about him. Micromanager or Mr. Can’t Be Bothered? Looks the other w

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com You have natural abilities and inclinations. You love doing certain things. That's normal and good. But what you love in life was never intended to be all that is important in your world. Family, friends, co-workers, church family, strangers, and even supervisors, they are all supposed to be important to you. Granted, holding importance in varying degrees, but definitely holding a place in that tight little circle that some of you

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com If we are talking about your teeth, yep, that’s true. Just totally ignore them, and you have a pretty quick way to rid yourself of a tiresome repetitive responsibility. “She don’t care about us, and always wishin’ that we weren’t so needy all the time? Oh, yeah, we’re outta here! We may leave one by one, but we’re all leavin,’ sooner or later.” But emotional trauma? No way. There are way too many families that seem to believe that

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com We humans have personality traits, that is readily apparent. And because we all have our own individual and highly weird traits, each of us also have singularly different desires. Desires for things in our life that are driven by our God-given quirks. The athlete, bookworm, the flour-on-my-hands addicted, the outdoorsman, or maybe the dancer. We all seem to come equipped with an in-born love of something. Scripture says to rear a chi

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com You want your way. And that is normal. But getting others to want to do what you are asking? Sometimes that’s just not very easy. Forcing them usually doesn’t make you a winner. In their eyes or in your own. A normal person will usually admit they don’t enjoy having to use bad tactics to win. They just can’t figure out another technique. And they are right; there are other means to get your way. For example, you may be bigger and str

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Living in a desert in the summertime, a real actual desert, you have to learn to make choices. Choices that can make or break how well you thrive in this rather harsh environment. You can focus your thoughts and attention on the unrelenting ‘cook your soul’ heat in the summer, or you can anticipate the six months of near perfect temperatures in winter time. You can easily resent the burning hot sand and jagged rocks, or instead, you