Two different worlds and two different people.

Small towns and big cities anchor the fabric of our Republic.

We need both because both form the fabric of who we are.

Both have given us presidents.

Both have given us patriots who died on foreign battlefields defending our democracy.

Both have given us wisdom to elevate the public dialogue.

Both have given us dramatically different lifestyle alternatives.

I was born in a small town and moved in the middle of my high school years to a big city.

My birthplace, South Bend IN, gave me roots.

Detroit MI gave me wings!

Small towns and big cities are the necessary weavers of the fabric that is America!

Well, here we are way up in Northern Michigan.

Our son and his family rented an Airbnb off the web.

It is a rustic cottage high up above the crashing waves of Lake Michigan.

We are enjoying this breathtaking sight and sound.

You never know when you book a vacation to a location sight unseen.

When we pulled up to this deeply forested cottage, we weren’t impressed.

Inside the house, however, it was wonderful.

I really believe in creating a new environment from time-to-time.

It refreshes the soul!

Even if your destination is a disappointment, make the best of it.

It’ll do you good!

If not today, when?

Good jobs are going begging!

Why now?

Millions of previous employees are sitting at home while collecting generous unemployment checks from Uncle Sam.

We walked into a very upscale restaurant last week and we could not be seated because it didn’t have enough servers.

Home Depot is short staffed as are many other employers.

This is your window-in-time to get a better job!

The U.S. economy is 90% recovered.

So, people are spending money again, but many businesses are turning customers away.

Some companies are offering “SIGNING BONUSES!”

Get out there and check out the employment opportunities in your area.

If not today, when?

Shortly after we were married, we were out for the evening with another recently married couple.

They told us that they were going to begin saving $50 from every paycheck.

If they ever got a raise in pay or a bonus, they were going to save half of the increase and use the other half for expenses.

Well, they did exactly what they had planned to do and achieved their goal! They saved $20,000 in what seemed to be no time at all.

I didn’t have his self discipline and spent what I earned.

With six kids to raise and educate, we had some sleepless nights.

How about you?

Are you able to forego some instant gratification in pursuit of financial peace-of-mind?

It’s not easy, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy!

Statistics tell us that millions of U.S. households do not have the cash reserves to replace their hot water heater if it need be.

There are always unforeseen expenses.

Is there a savings plan that you will initiate?

If not today, when?

A true story:

“While going through a divorce, my mother fretted over her new worries: no income, the same bills, and no way to afford groceries.

It was around this time that she started finding boxes of food outside our door every morning.

This went on for months until she was able to land a job.

We never did find out who it was who left the groceries for us, but they truly saved our lives.” (Jamie Boleyn, Emmett, Idaho)

There are 15 million single moms in the U.S.

Their plight has always been difficult!

Covid-19 made it almost impossible with record unemployment.

There was a time when they welcomed parenting with a partner.

That partner is now gone.

And yet there is a child or children to raise!

We must be there for the single moms we know.

If not today, when?

Definition: A feeling of DEEP PLEASURE OR SATISFACTION derived from one’s own accomplishments.

Pride is a powerful emotion!

When properly applied, it can sustain us through daunting assaults on our sense of self-worth.

When improperly applied, it can cause irrevocable injury in all our human relationships.

Everyone has a right to like themselves.

After all, God loves us, so we have every reason to like ourselves.

When pride is used to bully, intimidate or dominate others, however, it becomes the weapon of choice.

Pride in oneself does not need to be constantly on display.

Pride, when applied with a healthy application of “give-and-take,” can guarantee your happiness and the happiness of others in your world!

If not today, when?

Hope floats. Swans’ nests do not—unless they get a little help from someone determined to make sure their precious cargo has a chance to hatch.

Rob Adamson, who lives and works at Jones Boatyard in St Ives, England has been a longtime spectator to the world’s “unluckiest swans” efforts to become parents.

For a decade, he looked on sadly as the poor birds’ eggs fell prey to poaching foxes and rising waters. This year as the Great Ouse began to flood, he knew he couldn’t stand by and let another clutch perish on his watch.

“You’re not supposed to interfere, but it had got to the point where they were all going to die,” Adamson told the BBC.

During the night, Adamson fashioned a makeshift raft and moored it with a line to the bank. It was well after dark when he gingerly lifted the nest and its occupants (eight eggs and one hissing mama) to safety, all under the wary eye of Papa swan. (GoodNewsNetwork.com)

Let’s hear it for our British friend, Rob Adamson!

It takes 13 weeks to complete boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, where young recruits become hardened US Marines. The three-month course is considered one of the most difficult in any branch of the US military.

But before this year, male and female recruits never trained side-by-side.

This week, after grinding through three months of training and team building, the San Diego depot’s first gender-integrated class of Marines graduated after completing boot camp together. The historic first was motivated by the National Defense Authorization Act, signed in 2020, which required the Marines to begin training male and female recruits together before 2028.

Until recently, the two training depots were largely segregated by gender: Companies of women trained at the recruit depot in Parris Island, South Carolina, and men trained either in South Carolina or San Diego, but not concurrently with the women recruits. (CNN)

Progress!

If they’re going to fight side-by-side, they should be trained side-by-side!

After 57 years, I’ve learned MARRIED LOVE takes many forms!

There is, of course, PHYSICAL LOVE. This is the usual spark that begins the relationship.

The SOMEONE-CARES kind of love. This brings a feeling of self-worth.

MUTUAL LOVE OF OFFSPRING. It is a shared responsibility and a source of joy unique to the two of you.

THE FORGIVING LOVE. There will always be various irritants in the relationship. They must be forgiven.

The THANKFUL LOVE. If you have someone who truly loves and accepts you, be eternally thankful.

The EQUAL-EFFORT LOVE. It takes two horses to pull the carriage. If the love is real, both partners must embrace the tasks at hand.

The FREQUENT EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE. Don’t you dare let it get stale. Keep it alive!

My partner of 57 years has taught me what MARRIED LOVE is!

Practice all these various forms regularly!

If not today, when?

…….a gift.

It is not earned!

Every single aspect of how our bodies function was formed inside our mothers body.

How is it that, with the instant of birth, we began to breathe on our own?

We could see and hear and express ourselves verbally.

None of these miracles were the result of our efforts.

No, they were a gift from God working through our parents.

So, do you greet each morning with undying gratitude for the miracle of your existence?

Or, would you rather complain about what’s not right with your life?

I prefer the former instead of the latter!

BE THANKFUL!!!!!!

If not today, when?