Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Four-year-old Jimmy stood motionless beneath the large bucket balanced above him. A bucket that held a lot of cold water already, with water being added constantly from the never-ending stream feeding it. Shivering in anticipation, Jimmy watched as the water level steadily inched upward. Then it happened. The slightly off-balance bucket suddenly reached its tipping point and completely doused the boy, causing him to run away scr

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com Lost terribly at the family game of cards? Tear up that score card and put it out of your mind. A silly little board game is not worth thinking about and ruining your day. But you know that. Or you should. Your fiancé lets you know that after thinking about your relationship, you just aren’t the perfect one? Go ahead and sob brokenheartedly for a while, mope around the house in your pjs, eat a gallon of chocolate ice cream, get angr

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com If you are in one, it’s a scary thing. With a lot of anger, defeatism, anxiety, and damaged pride as shipmates. But, maybe you still feel that you would rather patch the holes that are rapidly taking on water, rather than just bailing out. Maybe you feel the kids deserve a home with both a mom and a dad in it. Maybe, just maybe, you believe that what you two had, at one point in time, is still worth fighting for. If so, then let’s ta

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com The office was in its usual Monday morning subdued chaos, nothing new about the muffled exclamations, one-on-one conversations, and general hubbub. But still, there was a decidedly different element in the air. The reason? The new chief-of-staff was beginning his first day in the office, and everyone was feeling slightly jittery with quite a few unanswered questions about him. Micromanager or Mr. Can’t Be Bothered? Looks the other w

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com You have natural abilities and inclinations. You love doing certain things. That's normal and good. But what you love in life was never intended to be all that is important in your world. Family, friends, co-workers, church family, strangers, and even supervisors, they are all supposed to be important to you. Granted, holding importance in varying degrees, but definitely holding a place in that tight little circle that some of you

Send responses to: andybowman839@gmail.com If we are talking about your teeth, yep, that’s true. Just totally ignore them, and you have a pretty quick way to rid yourself of a tiresome repetitive responsibility. “She don’t care about us, and always wishin’ that we weren’t so needy all the time? Oh, yeah, we’re outta here! We may leave one by one, but we’re all leavin,’ sooner or later.” But emotional trauma? No way. There are way too many families that seem to believe that

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.