FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART    

   There is a thin line between being “Safe at Home” and being “Stuck at Home.”  For the kid “Growing Up On Dump Ground Road,” that line was crossed in the summer of 1966. He missed the final weeks of his 6th Grade year and the fir...

Everyone remembers their first car, their first crush, and their first kiss. The first car for the boy “Growing Up On Dump Ground Road” was a brown, 1960 Ford Falcon Wagon. It cost a grand total of $175, which he had saved from working at the Dairy Queen for fifty-cent...

The boy “Growing Up On Dump Ground Road” lived in a Mayberry-like world. Most of you will recall the fictional town in North Carolina from “The Andy Griffith Show.” It had a slow paced, simple life, small town atmosphere, much like Rockdale, Texas. In both instances, t...

I found a recent Facebook post showing the creativity of some CBC grandparents in entertaining their little ones to be quite amusing. They transformed their living room into a drive-in movie theater, using cardboard boxes for cars. This reminded me of the simpler times...

There were not many opportunities to drive on snow and ice when I was “Growing Up On Dump Ground Road.” Our winter weather in Central Texas usually amounted to 1-2 inches of white stuff about once a year. It would cover the ground in the morning, but be gone by noon. T...

With the busyness of the holidays, it has been a while since I shared my experiences of “Growing Up On Dump Ground Road.” I don’t remember the start of a New Year being a big deal when I was a kid. I do recall the difficulty of starting back to school after the Christm...

One of my grandchildren walked into our house after church yesterday and proclaimed in an excited voice, “Wow, it sure is Christmassy in here!” I think he might have invented a new word, but it thrilled my heart to see him so enthusiastic about Christmas. We have a ten...

In case you have not done the math, there are only 32 days separating Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. That is a short span of time to recover from one major holiday and prepare for the next. Two of the biggest festivities on the Christian calendar are right togethe...

For the kid “Growing Up On Dump Ground Road,” the Thanksgiving meal was always chicken and dressing. The reason for this was clear: turkeys were sold at the store but chickens were free from grandma’s chicken pen next door. Among my zaniest childhood memories were “chi...

Probably like all of you, the kid “Growing Up on Dump Ground Road” was told repeatedly: “You are known by the company you keep.”  It must be one of those lines that they teach at Parenting School.  Of course, it is a warning to be careful about the type of people with...