Paul O'Rear -- Saturday, June 23, 2007, 1:17 AM (No Comments)
Categories: Big Idea, Make a Difference
Tags: Alexander Graham Bell, Benjamin Franklin, Elvis Presley, Ephesians, George Washington, Hitler, Luke, Martin Luther King Jr., Oprah Winfrey, Osama bin Laden, Philippians, Rosa Parks, Rosie O'Donnell, Saddam Hussein, Stalin
If you were to make a list of people who have made a difference in the world, who would you include?
I recently posed that question to a large group of high school students at a summer camp. Their list included many names you would expect, plus a few surprises.
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Paul O'Rear -- Saturday, June 16, 2007, 1:04 AM (1 Comment)
Categories: Childhood, Justin O'Rear, Memories
Tags: Baseball, Highway 287, Justin O'Rear, Lions Park, Softball, Waxahachie Sports Complex, Waxahachie Texas
Earlier this evening I found myself wandering around Lions Park, the four-field baseball/softball complex where Justin played Little League ball for a couple of years back in his younger days. Susan and I both spent some time on those fields as well, participating at various times on several church-league softball teams.
A few years ago, the City of Waxahachie built a new Sports Complex out on Highway 287 with much nicer, more modern fields and facilities. As a result, Lions Park has become almost forgotten. The fields are in poor shape, some of the fences and backstops have weeds and vines almost covering them, the bleachers have been removed, and the concession stand building is no longer there. I was overcome with a palpable sense of sadness as I stood there taking it all in and reminiscing.
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Paul O'Rear -- Friday, June 8, 2007, 7:48 AM (No Comments)
Categories: Childhood, Memories
Tags: Bears, Charley the Squirrel, Churches of Christ, Dirty T-Shirts, Frio River, Great Smoky Mountains, Leakey Texas, Pecan Grove Campground, River Bend Campground, Texas Hill Country
Someone once said, “In the race to be better or best, don’t miss the joy of being.”
When I was a boy growing up in South Texas, my family would take off for about two weeks every summer and go camping. The first camping trips I remember were to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee.
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Paul O'Rear -- Friday, June 1, 2007, 7:49 AM (No Comments)
Categories: Children, Teachers
“A hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove … but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child.”
That quote is taken from a motivational poster I saw several years ago entitled “Priorities”. The picture on the poster was of a little boy, hands in his back pockets, standing at the edge of a lake looking out over the water. The picture and quote served as a gentle, eloquent reminder to me of the importance of paying attention to the little people — the children — because by doing so we are paying attention to the future!
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