It's another installment of the lowest-cash-award-for-a-photo-caption-contest on the Internet, the $5.37 Caption This Contest! Today's picture features the jolly old elf himself, but we have some business to attend to first. Thanks to everyone who entered the most recent iteration of the contest last week. The winning caption is below. Congratulations to the victor - Bryan – who can message me at Facebook or on Twitter with an appropriate email address. That will allow me … [Read more...]
December 14, 2012 By 10 Comments
Where Father Figures, Figure in the Family
Here's a great guest post from a blogging buddy of mine Jared Latigo. Jared is a writer, speaker and passion guy. His vision in life is to have more people love their work than ones that hate it. Be sure to check out his blog at JaredLatigo.com or follow him on Twitter @JaredLatigo. Here's his post: ---------------------------------------------- I'm on a mission in this life to figure out exactly where I "fit." Maybe you are too? Good. We'll get along just fine then. But often … [Read more...]
December 13, 2012 By 5 Comments
25 Christmas songs in 2 minutes
The holidays tend to bring out the best in people - particularly from a creative perspective. Here's a creatively, entertaining video from the folks over at ignitermedia.com - they produce a variety of faith-based videos, skits and production pieces. In this particular segment Rob Thomas (aka "Johnny") and Braun Brown (aka "Chachi") regale us with 25+ Christmas songs in less than 120 seconds. Don't let the goofy wigs or extreme orthodontia scare you, it's a pretty cool … [Read more...]
December 11, 2012 By 11 Comments
Top-10 List: Holiday Christmas Specials
I'm amazed at all of the holiday specials that are playing and replaying this time of year. Growing up during the 1970s with only three TV networks, holiday specials were truly "special." My fondest memories of those days were the "Animagic" Christmas specials produced by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass. You know the stop-motion classics about Rudolph, Heat Miser, the Winter Warlock...etc. Now, ABC Family Channel's 25 Days of Christmas is running those specials wall-to-wall, decked … [Read more...]
December 10, 2012 By 9 Comments
An Unexpected e-Mail of Encouragement
A few weeks ago I wrote here about some of the health issues I've been dealing with lately. As a general update, every week I'm feeling better and getting healthier. I plan to provide more specific results after the New Year. Since my first post on these health issues, I've received many well wishes of encouragement. Below is an e-mail that stood out because it came from a blogger buddy of mine who's living in Paraguay with his family. His name is Ken Hagerman. He's a missionary and … [Read more...]
December 6, 2012 By 19 Comments
Open Letter to the Makers of Elf on the Shelf
To Whom It May Concern: Thank you for creating the Elf on the Shelf franchise of books, cookies, plush dolls, DVDs...etc. which enable parents such as my wife and me the privilege of paying $29.95 to deceive our children. The Story of the Elf As you well know, your fabricated story of the Elf asserts that he/she appears in the child's home between Thanksgiving and Christmas as a behavioral scout for Saint Nick, to keep an eagle eye on the children for the "naughty and nice" list. The … [Read more...]
November 30, 2012 By 1 Comment
God Is Not a Plumber – Talking to Kids About Death
The topic of death and grieving have been covered several times on this blog, because those are realities that all of us will face during this life. I'm thrilled to share with you this guest post from a writing friend of mine, Michelle Johnson. As a blogger Michelle has a keen interest and ability in addressing grief, bringing her to write for and work with Adelaide funeral homes and various publications dealing with death, funerals and the grieving process. Here's her guest … [Read more...]
November 29, 2012 By 5 Comments
Helping Kids Understand Money
I typically write about issues that families face on a daily basis. One area that I haven't touched on in a while is kids and money. "Below is a guest post from Joy Mali who writes about financial management tips – specifically, she advocates that college-age students and young adults check credit report and credit scores regularly before applying for student loans." ====================== Every parent wants their child to become financially responsible by the time they become … [Read more...]
November 27, 2012 By 5 Comments
Women Speak More Goodly Than Guys
The headline of this blog post shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, in fact the best communicators I’ve known in my professional and personal live have all been the fairer sex – just ask my wife. In fact, the past 14 or so years that I’ve been in corporate communications all of my bosses have been women - and they've typically been some of the best communicators within the various organizations. That fact comes to bear in two studies I recently read. The first was … [Read more...]
