I still remember the anxiety I felt leaving for vacation during the oil crisis. The Nixon administration reiterated US support of Israel in response to a Saudi threat to halt oil shipments. An oil embargo ensued, gas prices soared and long lines at gas stations became...
Welcome to our long-awaited series, Revelations. While I’ve occasionally referred to scripture from this mysterious book this is the first time we’re dedicating multiple weeks to cover the entire book. Ready? First, Revelations may be one of the most theologically...
Country music singer Jason Aldean finally had a song make it to the US Billboard Hot 100, thanks in large part to a controversial video. Aldean didn’t write the lyrics for “Try That in a Small Town,” but he took the heat for filming a video in front of the Maury...
Lori McKenna captured the essence of wisdom passed on by parents, grandparents, and guardians in her hit song, “Humble & Kind.” She won a Grammy for best Country Song, “Song of the Year” at 2016 CMA Awards and “Country Song of the Year” at 2016 American Music...
I enjoy tipping more than the cultural norm suggests. I’ve done this for most of my adult life and I realize that my ability to do this is one sign of my privileged life. But it’s still a choice. One change to my tipping habit changed because of COVID, however. After...
Lee Greenwood was pleasantly surprised when Universal Studios decided to release his new song, God Bless the U.S.A., as a single. This iconic song lifted the spirits of Americans after each national crisis, including Desert Storm, Hurricane Katrina, and the terror...
We end our series, Letters, on the last day of 2023, realizing that 2024 is a presidential election year. On January 7, we begin our new series, Country, based on a book titled, Ours was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream. We transition from Hall Mark...
What does the “American Dream” mean to you personally? A common description of the American Dream “Was the ability of people to rise above the circumstances of their birth.” Does it still exist? So far this century, campaign slogans promise to restore the American...
This week’s chapters from our companion book, Letters to Santa, ends with Polly’s arrival on Christmas Eve. Polly loves the store, but she didn’t go to Evergreen to buy a store. Instead, she offers Lisa and Oliver jobs in Boston. Her offer further complicates the...
In this week’s chapters from Letters to Santa, Lisa picks up the Christmas Globe at Kringle’s Kitchen and shakes it as she says, “Please work.” The snow globe was famous in Evergreen for people shaking it and making a wish as the snow settled on the couple in front of...