When you pray, you’re holding the rope.  Here’s how to pray for us.   DeDe and I are both working as Chaplains for Marketplace Ministries. I’m assigned to Roy O Martin’s two mills and trucking fleet. DeDe also works at the Martin facilities as well as two  two nursing homes. It is a rewarding and challenging ministry. Pray for God’s …

A word from Curt  This is one of my favorite African images. It’s near the entrance to a large refugee camp in northern Uganda. The sign is homemade and heart felt. If you love people, people will love you. 2. Trust God.   About 82.7% of all human problems are solved by adhering to those two truths. Love people. Trust …

  Hope. Such a fine word. When you have hope, you can endure anything. Without hope, it’s difficult to put one foot in front of the other. Where does your hope come from? The best hope always comes from the Lord. but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they …

The Civic Center Doors This is a warning: Be careful with the doors at the Lake Charles Civic Center! I was there last week and as I entered the men’s room, I recalled Roy Greene’s story. The Lake Charles Civic Center opened thirty years ago. Amazingly, it was constructed on sand pumped out of the adjacent lake that gives the …

Trelvis and Phil Thomas. The inspiration for this story from The Wayfaring Stranger. Miz Girlie’s Prayer Tree The follow scene from our first novel, The Wayfaring Stranger, tells of Irish immigrant Joe Moore’s arrival in western Louisiana. The Irishman has been befriended by Miz Girlie Perkins, an old Piney Woods widow:   Joe slept each night on the porch. Miz …

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A Word from Curt Fighting It’s a word a man must know if he’s going to win in life. I’m not talking about fists or knives. I’m referring to the soul.     We’re all familiar with the adage, “I’d rather fight a bear.” After watching that grizzly bear tear up Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) in The Revenant, I’m not sure …

It’s a tree planting day on my Dry Creek land. It’s proposal day on my book, As the Crow Flies. A proposal is the written package sent to an agent/publisher to “sell your book.” I never thought of these two actions as related. Planting pines. Proposing a book. You start with what you have. And you plant it the best …

Today is February 7, 2016.  It’s Game Day. Super Bowl 50, and we’ll  make another string of pearls. Memories. We’re in a season of making memories. And there’s no more important people to make memories with than grandchildren. How do I know? I simply go back to Super Bowl I. I watched it with my grandfather and my dad. In …

Up to the Task I watch him run around the yard with his cousins. I have one thought: this isn’t fair. Rylan is a precocious tow-headed five-year-old. He is precocious. That’s just a fancy word for full of life. He is precious. That’s special.   Rylan has seen a great deal in his young life. He lost his father through …

East Beauregard Trojans seniors of 2007.  Back L to R:  Michael Maddox, Richie McKay, Terry Iles,  Front   Brady Glaser, Kyle Burk, Tyler Adams        They’ll bury Michael Maddox this morning.  He’ll be wearing his Atlanta Braves cap and shirt. It’s fitting. It may seem shallow talking about baseball when a young man has died. But baseball was …

“The historian tells what happened. The novelist tells how it felt.” -E.L. Doctorow     As many of you know, I’m in the midst of writing our fourth novel, As the Crow Flies. It’s the third book in the Westport Trilogy (the first books are The Wayfaring Stranger and A Good Place). Crow is currently in its third draft weighing …

  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 …

    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 …