Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com We humans have personality traits, that is readily apparent. And because we all have our own individual and highly weird traits, each of us also have singularly different desires. Desires for things in our life that are driven by our God-given quirks. The athlete, bookworm, the flour-on-my-hands addicted, the outdoorsman, or maybe the dancer. We all seem to come equipped with an in-born love of something. Scripture says to rear a chi

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com You want your way. And that is normal. But getting others to want to do what you are asking? Sometimes that’s just not very easy. Forcing them usually doesn’t make you a winner. In their eyes or in your own. A normal person will usually admit they don’t enjoy having to use bad tactics to win. They just can’t figure out another technique. And they are right; there are other means to get your way. For example, you may be bigger and str

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Living in a desert in the summertime, a real actual desert, you have to learn to make choices. Choices that can make or break how well you thrive in this rather harsh environment. You can focus your thoughts and attention on the unrelenting ‘cook your soul’ heat in the summer, or you can anticipate the six months of near perfect temperatures in winter time. You can easily resent the burning hot sand and jagged rocks, or instead, you

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com A man, who had already lost his beloved wife to an illness that had taken her life a few months earlier, had only one child. An adorable blonde-haired dark-eyed baby girl they had named Leslie Raynelle. Leslie was understandably the light of her dad’s life. Everything he did, everything he worked for, was focused on what was best for his little daughter. But then a catastrophic day came. The day when the man’s entire beloved hometown

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Have you ever noticed that those rigid rules you insist your kids obey rarely bring about long-term enthusiastic obedience? “Mom told us to not do that. Yay!!!” Instead, rebellion later on is usually the result. When your back is turned. When your kid is turned loose on his own. When you are not there playing policeman. When they get to a place in their life that allows a teen to make a few of their own choices, often a young person

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com  Your spouse feeling extremely ill and hurting, with no rapid relief anywhere in sight? Don't expect him to act differently than exactly what he is feeling. Physical illness shows itself very plainly in our behavior – take a quick look at a hurting and fussy little baby who feels no qualms at all in expressing just how bad her body feels. Dealing constantly with real pain can make anyone of us cranky and hard to be around at times.

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Ten-year-old Billy and his dad were going to eat at Billy’s favorite buffet-style restaurant. It was the boy’s birthday, and Dad had indulgently told him that he could have anything he wanted, as much as he wanted. Big mistake. Billy grabbed a plate and headed straight for the prime rib, steaks, roasts, and seafood bar. Without even a side glance at all the salads, vegetables, and fruits. As he began piling his plate with meats only,

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Parenting kids…tough stuff. And just think of doing that same job from God’s point of view. He’s responsible for the same…guiding you and me to become good adults. Not a job that you would hear me volunteering to do in a trillion lightyears. Just imagine. God: “Jimbo, go to work everyday and do your job well, then go straight home to be with your family when you’re done. So you can be the husband and father they need.” Jimbo: “Huh, n

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com If I was still a teen in high school, I would love AI. I could have my writing assignments for English done in a flash and be out the door. And have a lot better grades to show my parents than I did years ago. And later on, with those gnarly issues at work when I became an adult? “No problem, boss. I’ll just let my trusty friend who lives somewhere out there in NeverNeverLand figure it all out for me. I’ll get back to you on that in

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Old and slow-moving, nevertheless, Grace faithfully carried her blind rider on the snow-covered, lonely, and seemingly endless journey. There was no real visibility, due to the heavy clouds that hid the moon and stars. But even if the moon had been as bright as the sun during that long night, the old man with his sightless eyes still would not have seen a thing. If left up to him, He could easily have wandered around endlessly, tryi

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com You remember hearing and seeing the popular phrase, WWJD? ‘What Would Jesus Do.’ If you do, very likely you also remember often seeing the mocking curl of the lip of someone in the vicinity. That sentence showed up everywhere and soon became trite and overused. And almost guaranteed to irritate anyone nearby. I can even remember hearing certain people as they would laugh and say, “WWJD….oh, yeah sure, me too. And I can give

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Hopelessness. That terrible, hollow, empty sense that makes you believe there is absolutely nothing that can change your circumstance. Notice I wrote ‘believe.’ Not just ‘makes you feel.’ You may be someone who has already spent an endless amount of brain juice and time hashing and rehashing, searching for a way out of your dilemma. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. And you have come to the conclusion that nothing can make the final results end