Silly Old Bear

It was Tuesday, May 17, 1994. The east Texas sun warmed the afternoon air as we buried my 91-year-old grandmother beside her husband in Laws Chapel Cemetery on the outskirts of Atlanta, Texas. Grandpa Horace had preceded her in death by more than 25 years. He had been a faithful gospel preacher during his time. Mama Grace was a diligent student of God’s word, and had taught numerous Bible classes throughout her lifetime. These were my Dad’s parents.

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[PART 2 OF 4]

Over the course of the next few posts, we will be exploring the Parable of the Prodigal Son from three different perspectives:

1. The perspective of the father
2. The perspective of the prodigal son
3. The perspective of the older brother

Go ahead and read through the parable again by clicking on the picture of the Bible to the right. Then come back here and continue reading.

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Childhood Cancer Awareness Gold Ribbon

September is
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month .

My daughter Ashley died of cancer in November 2001. She was 14 years old. Diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was almost 10, she went through a year-and-a-half of treatments, was cancer-free for three years, and then relapsed in the Fall of 2001. She survived only two-and-a-half months after her relapse.

In the United States in 2007, more than 10,000 children under the age of 15 were diagnosed with cancer. Over 1,500 of them will die from the disease. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in children, exceeded only by accidents. (Source: American Cancer Society )

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“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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