January 4 is World Braille Day, the birthday of Braille inventor, Louis Braille. The day recognizes the contributions of Braille in helping blind and visually impaired people read and write.
There are two kinds of people, people who like the toilet paper to unfold from the top and those who like the toilet paper to unfold from the bottom. They usually marry each other.
As The Del Zorros’s 2014 song goes: “I still believe in magic” – “Papa magic”, that is. I was blessed to spend a few days this week visiting with my daughter. Of course it was a special gift to be with all of Briana’s family but hanging out with Ruby C. was priceless. Ruby C. turned two this week and one more time I had the joy of holding a two-year-old grandchild in my lap and watching the “Twinkle/Twinkle” videos. Honestly, I must have watched these videos several hundred times through six grandchildren growing up. (So many precious memories.)
If you have small children in your life I recommend you gathering them up on your lap and playing these two videos. Don’t watch the videos, watch your little one.
https://youtu.be/yCjJyiqpAuU
https://youtu.be/tbbKjDjMDok
Money Matters: It is true that money speaks. But what it says is your choice.
Quotes:
- “Your headache feels great to a druggist.”
- “There is tremendous internal pressure to comply with the norms of the group. The reward of being accepted is often greater than the reward of winning an argument, looking smart, or finding truth. Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves.” — Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
- “To understand what it means to be saved, one must first understand what it means to be lost.” _Thomas Oden, Life in the Spirit
CLOSING COMMENTS:
Later this morning Sonja and I will be heading back to Bismarck after spending almost three weeks visiting family for the holidays. With a family that is spread across the country it meant we celebrated Christmas several times, working around schedules, covid watch/sicknesses, and a dozen other little hurdles. But it was definitely worth the effort. It is over way too quickly. As Sonja said earlier, “Time flies when you want it to slow down.”
Sonja and I love our life’s work and have no complaints, but the one downside is being so far from family and longtime friends. Something I’ve learned from the last several years of being so far apart—it’s hard to catch up on living. Concentrated doses of being together for a few days can’t really compensate for the lost days, months, and in some cases years of being apart.
But all choices—even good ones—come with a price and Sonja and I gladly pay knowing that all that we have committed to our Lord and Savior will be kept secure until we all meant on that golden shore where there will be no more good-byes.
Pray for us the next few days as we travel across our beautiful nation…heading home to Bismarck.
_dlk
The ONE THING 