Not long ago our Jura Capresso coffee machine died. It was a calamity on the scale of a hurricane or your washing machine flooding your house. It hit us hard! Those of you who know us, understand. The whine of our Jura is the town-square clock of our home. [caption id="attachment_1806" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Isn't it beautiful?"][/caption] But Jura was gone. Enter the French Press, which in our opinion is the second best coffee around. Sometimes, if we are honest and…
"And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him/ Who then can understand the thunder of his power? -- Job 26:14 I've seen God do some amazing things in the past few weeks. Perhaps my favorite is God's total transformation of our friend Bob. Bob was addicted to pain pills and alcohol for 15 years at least -- the growing-up years of his two precious daughters. The girls gave up on…
It slips my mind, sometimes, that someone reading my posts may not know where they are written. With very few exceptions, most of my writing is done in Starbucks. If I didn't write the actual post there, I at least scribbled notes to remind me later of the direction I'm going to take. I don't know all the reasons why Starbucks is my choice, but one of them is because it simply isn't HOME. I can come here and focus,…
Now as far as national holidays go, I realize Groundhog Day may not rank at the top of your list. But it's pretty close to the top of mine! It all started, of course, with the movie, Groundhog Day, starring Andie MacDowell and Bill Murray. Poor Bill Murray is stuck in a loop of an endlessly repeating day, a day which he gets to relive in almost any way you can imagine. Some days he makes creative use of his…
It's an old saying and you have undoubtably heard it before. I last heard it when my Pastor, at a leadership conference, was encouraging leaders to be BOLD in their choices. "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." And it's true, right? This sports analogy has encouraged us to be bolder in our decision to step to the line and shoot. Go out there and do the Nike thing...just do it. It's a great motivator, but I am…
[caption id="attachment_1635" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Gregory selling his copies of Spare Change in Harvard Square"][/caption] As a sociological experiment, there is nothing like sitting in Harvard Square, in Cambridge Massachusetts. And if you can pick a day like I did last week, when the Square is bustling with new freshmen and scurrying students, so much the better. This spot sees constant international traffic, workers looking for lunch, alternative rockers (is that even a descriptive anymore?) and of course, its share of…
[caption id="attachment_1625" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Embrace Me, by Lisa Samson"][/caption] The hidden secret, the one no one wants to talk about, is that we are all broken. It's true, isn't it? Pick out the super star, the guy or gal or couple that seems to have it all. Find the person who, by whatever standard you can imagine, seems to be on top of the heap. Spend some time with that person. Spend good time, quality time. Begin sharing your hearts.…
? I got home this week. It's odd, really, because I've also been home all month. I've been home in our condo in Lexington, or on the lake in New Hampshire where I've spent nearly every summer of my life. I breathe in the fresh air of those places and my inner sense of being profoundly at home is magnified. And then I arrive back in Palm Beach Gardens, my own home, my real home. I love the process of…
Panera Bread is unsurpassed when it comes to defining a niche market. Think about it quickly: what do you think of when you think of Panera? Amazing food? Probably not. I am sitting at Panera now. It is 2:45, a time when most lunch spot snare hunkered down preparing for dinner. They are usually barren. Not Panera. There are businessmen,students and retired people all over this restaurant. The common denominator? They are all on their computers, iPads and phones. Like…
