Family
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‘Tis the Season
I know that you can finish the lyrics of the title of this post – to be jolly. At least that’s what we hear all of the time. “It’s the hap…hap…happiest time of the year,” or so we’re told. We hear words like: jolly, happy, peace, goodwill, etc. all around us in songs and conversation. But is that how everyone is feeling? I’ve seen the faces of some folks lately that say otherwise. We live in a land of plenty where most people have at least the basics that they need to live. Now, I know that I have lived a blessed life, but now realize that when I was a…
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It’s Not about the Groceries
Recently, I saw the following “online headline:” A grocery chain is removing self-checkout after realizing executives hate it as much as customers do: ‘We like to talk to people’ – Steve Mollman – Fortune – 11/10/23 The grocery chain which is the subject of the headline and following article is located in England. However, I’ve recently seen and read information about various businesses in The United States doing the same thing. Some are not totally removing the self-checkout lanes, but are significantly reducing the number of them. Even corporations such as Costco, Walmart, and others are studying and/or implementing this. To be fair, every source of information I’ve checked includes…
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Parents, This Christmas…
My post today is really simple and short. It is just a reminder to parents, including the one writing this article. This time of year, we feel pressure to make everything perfect for our kids. We think our house has to look like a New York City storefront. We try to bake perfect cookies. We want to go to dozens of events and watch 5 Christmas movies per day. We will search long and hard for gifts (some of which we can’t even afford). Stop it…and just spend time with your kids. If the lights on the tree go out, who cares? Make it a laughing memory. If the cookies…
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Our 2023 Thankful List [Video]
So, a number of months ago, we paused recording our podcast. However, today, we bring back one of the yearly features, and we do so for two reasons. First, we love sharing our “thankful list,” and so we have that for you in video form. That’s the main reason, and we hope this encourages you to think of things for which you are thankful this year. But also, we are sharing this in video form because…we have our own YouTube channel! The Faughn Family of Four will begin releasing more videos in January (maybe a couple will be sprinkled in before then), so we ask you to subscribe and let…
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The Lesson of the Seasons of Life
As I sat in the sunroom this morning with my coffee, I was amazed at the beauty of the leaves as they fluttered to the ground. The sun was shining and gold leaves fluttered down like raindrops of gold. It’s autumn and this beautiful season is all around us – the colors, the harvested fields, the cooler temperatures, the geese flying south for the winter. My mind turned to the other seasons of the year: spring with its new life and beautiful green colors, summer with the blue sky and the deep colors of beautiful flowers and trees, and winter with the black branches of a barren tree against the winter…
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It May Be a Lot of Things, But It is Not That
I’m not a “bumper sticker person.” I don’t feel compelled to “decorate” my vehicles with my preferences about certain things. An example of this is that most people who know me already know who my favorite athletic teams are and people who don’t know me don’t care. I seriously doubt that anybody’s allegiance would be changed merely because they saw a bumper sticker or decal on a vehicle. Apparently, not everybody agrees with me. I’m sure I’m not the only person who has seen vehicles “plastered” with so many stickers, decals, etc. that it almost seems like there is no room for any more of them. Some of the messages…
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When Perception is Not Reality
I’ve seen it many times, both in conversations and in social media posts. Frankly, I am sure that I have been guilty of it myself. In fact, I would guess that each of us has at some point–or many points–in our lives. I saw it again in the relatively recent past and it got the idea for this article started in my mind. I was reading a social media post that was connected to an event that I had at least a connection to. As I read, I was struck by how there were many facts right beside many things that I knew to be false, but that were presented…
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Their Best Customers
I’ve been thinking lately about some businesses/industries which “somehow” fail to use their best customers in their advertising. I’m thinking of two in particular. Some who read this may be old enough to remember commercials on television that advertised products for their brands with catchy slogans “informing” potential customers that their particular product “…tastes good like a cigarette should” or had “less tar – more taste.” Depending on what apparently was the target audience, the actors in the commercials and/or the models in the magazine and newspaper ads were portrayed in such a way as to encourage others to emulate them. One icon of the tobacco industry back then was portrayed…
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Those Kids Need to be There…Always
Recently, I watched a sermon by a friend of mine who is a wonderful Gospel preacher. It was a sermon from a couple of years ago that I was interested in hearing all of, but, as often happens, there was one little statement that was made that just stuck in my mind. In this part of the sermon, he was talking about decisions that elders had to make during the early-to-earlyish days of the pandemic. As elderships were trying to think of the best ways to proceed, they had to balance all sorts of things. He mentioned the eldership where he attends talking through those issues, as I know our…
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Take Heed How You Hear
The words in the title are, of course, used by our Lord (Luke 8:18). When He spoke those words, He was dealing with things that He was teaching. I’m wondering, though, if those words might be good advice in many areas of our lives. I hope that you will continue to read as I try to explain what I am thinking and as I continue to challenge my thinking. Some who read these words may have been watching the television program 60 Minutes on the evening of October 15, 2023. I did not watch it. In fact, I rarely have an opportunity to watch it because I choose to use the…
