Whether or not storms come, we can not choose. But where we stare during a storm, that we can.

Changing directions in life is not tragic. Losing passion in life is.

Our task is to stand tall in God's love, secure in our place, sparkling in kindness, surrounded by his goodness, freely giving to all who come our way. You, me, and the Christmas tree. Picked, purchased, and pruned.

People of each generation in the twentieth century "were three times more likely to experience depression" than people of the preceding generation.

Faithful servants have a way of knowing answered prayer when they see it, and a way of not giving up when they don't.

The key is this: Meet today's problems with today's strength. Don't start tackling tomorrow's problems until tomorrow. You do not have tomorrow's strength yet. You simply have enough for today.

I do think there is great strength, though, in starting a sermon with a story, then returning to that story at the end. That puts book ends to a sermon. It is a real simple technique that communicates to the audience that there is a sense of closure, that they have a package here, or we began and we closed with this. I think that's just a nice technique.