THE SPREAD’S OLD MAN I once worked on a big outfit called the Pleasant Valley Ranch. Every week a cowboy or two rolled up that long, dusty driveway in their beat up pickup to ask to see the old man about a job. Now, the old man was the owner of the spread and the […]
EMOTIONAL MATURITY & THE PERFECT FAMILY What was it like to be part of King Ahab’s perfect family? (See 1 Kings 21:1-6). When Ahab returned to the palace after being turned down from making a nice little vegetable garden out of Naboth’s vineyard, he slammed those big, old palace doors, and marched across to yell […]
STIRRUP READINESS I was drinking coffee at the Drover’s Café when Leo McKinny moseyed in and asked about how I’m getting along with my building project. You see, I’ve been busy building a false front western village in the lots next to my house. The place is called Broken Arrow Crossing.* Well, Leo took an […]
The No-See-Ums Plagues In most books about the Old West, you seldom read about the bugs. Oh, there are great stories about bears, snakes, and mountain lions. But what about when the cowboys, prospectors, mountain men, and pioneers had to face the dreaded enemies of mosquitos, fleas, lice, gnats, and no-see-ums? Each of these little […]
Keys to Family Intimacy According to surveys over the decades, materialism, inattentive parents, and a lack of spiritual foundations in the home rank as the biggest threats to family life. I maintain that each of those three threats can be dealt with by strengthening family intimacy. A need for intimacy is at the core of all […]
Disciples and Nooning It The old journal I was reading told tales along the Oregon Trail in 1852. It said, “About twelve miles past the lower cutoff on the south side of the Snake River, we found a little shade and nooned it a couple hours.” Nooned it? A noun into a verb? What did […]
Purpose and Plans for Family Privacy God designed that we live in families. But that doesn’t mean we should never be alone. Times of planned family privacy can meet crucial needs. Those Who Most Need Privacy 1. Mothers with young children, especially pre-school kids. Jesus said in Mark 6:31, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely […]
The Lowly Nighthawk Security You know, some names just have a good ring to them. They sound impressive. Take the term nighthawk, for instance. Why, that sounds like a sleek, fast, ferocious sportscar or motorcycle or high tech surveillance equipment with infrared scope. But on the cattle drives in the Old West, the nighthawk security […]
Nesters All Over the Place When ‘nester’ farmers first came into the wide open western range land, they were pretty much disliked. For the old-time cattlemen, they were an intrusion, not only on their business, but on the grandeur of the scenery. Instead of gazing across a wide plain of grass and sage, instead of […]
DON’T TAKE MY NIGHT HORSE I suppose some good night horses remain around. But frankly, I don’t know of anyone who needs one. Few men in our country have to work horseback at night, in places with no artificial light. In the old days on the cattle drives, every man had a night horse. This […]
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