Monthly Archives: January 2016

Provisions and Peace

  DeDe and I are sharing today about the needs of Voluntary Retiring Missionaries. These are career overseas workers who’ve chosen to take voluntary early retirement in our organization, the International Mission Board.   Here is the outline of our presentation:   Pray for peace in the spirits of these servants.  They’ve spent a lifetime on their fields.  Leaving their …

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I once was lost . . . but now am found

    Losing a dog, leaving a cap It may not seem like a big thing. But to me it was. Dee and I had spent three years without a dog. It’s the only time in our marriage we didn’t own at least one dog. Or to put it better: the only time a dog didn’t own us. Africa is …

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Dr. King at the Nile

It’s Dr. Martin Luther King Day here in America. My first MLK Day in America since 2011. Once again, my thoughts have returned to Africa today. To Jinja, Uganda. Where the world’s greatest river, the Nile, surges out of one of the world’s greatest lakes, Lake Victoria. A plaque to Gandhi is at the source of the Nile. This is …

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Meet an unforgettable character named Missouri.

We’re deep into the second draft of our latest novel, As the Crow Flies. I need your help in fleshing out some of the characters, scenes, and storyline. Join our Creekbank Tribe by sharing ideas at the end of this post. Thanks in advance! Today, you’ll meet the narrator of the book, a spunky teen named Missouri. Curt Opening line …

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Where are your sacred spaces?

A Word from Curt I have two questions today: Where do you go for your lonely place? Where are your sacred spaces?     I’ve chosen to make the first question singular: where is your lonely place? In the first chapter of Mark’s Gospel, the writer makes a key statement on the life and ministry of Jesus: 35 And rising very …

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From Third Base: A Good View

“Rounding third, headed for home. It’s a brown-eyed handsome man.” -“Centerfield” John Fogerty   A Word from Curt My Keyword* for 2016 is Encouragement. It’s one of my 6 Plus Words** for the year. One of the richest seasons of my life was coaching high school baseball. I’ve always felt at home in the third base coach’s box. It’s the …

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Building on a Firm Foundation

Officially, it’s known at the Loma Prieta Earthquake. To me, it will always be the World Series Earthquake. October 17, 1989. Game 3 of the World Series.  The Bay Series:  cross-Bay rivals the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s. Just before game time, this 6.9 quake struck the Bay Area. When the shaking stopped, 63 people had died and nearly …

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Looking in the Rear View Mirror

A word from Curt It’s a new year.   Time for looking ahead. But also time for looking back. I call the rear view part “our  yearly review.” I’m gleaning from my 2015 journals. There are five of them. Uncensored and uncropped. I encourage you to in your own style, record this new year. Journaling is an opportunity to double …

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