Zig Ziglar always had a way of distilling so much into one sound bite! This quote got my mind racing. Have I learned from defeats? Have I learned the right lessons? Nobody likes defeat. It’s especially hard when we gave it all we could and we still come up short.
I like trivia. No, I love trivia! The only problem I have with it is the way people perceive it. They look at trivia as… well, trivial! It’s perceived as useless, throw-away information.
Never underestimate the power of a little piece of knowledge! It has power. It makes creativity happen. It brings innovation to the marketplace. Any piece of knowledge, no matter how seemingly small or trivia can have power.
It can be tough to have faith that can move mountains when you have to go back to school. I probably prayed a prayer similar to the boy’s prayer in this cartoon when I was in elementary school.
School was stressful for me. I never knew if my pencil was really a Number Two Pencil. If I wasn’t so nervous, I may have had the wits to actually check the inscription on the pencil. I should’ve realized almost all school pencils are number two pencils. If I just got that through my head, maybe school wouldn’t have been so stressful. Then again, maybe I should have just prayed about my stress!
I drew this for the Church of God Newsletter.
It’s fun when tradition collides with technology! For a few months, I’ve been using my bank’s web payment to pay my tithes and offerings. Why not? I’ve paid all my other bills that way for years. I didn’t expect the feeling of guilt when the offering plate came around even when I knew perfectly well I was giving.
So how do you combat that feeling when someone gives online? You can’t put your smart phone in the offering plate. Printing out a receipt seems tacky. If you wave it off and say, “I gave online,” you’re only calling attention to yourself and sound pretentious. Oh, the dilemmas!
A t-shirt would solve all the awkward exchanges. All the church has to do is pass them out in the back before the service. You can make them big enough to fit over any outfit. And if you decorate your church for the season, you can make them match colors for Lent and Advent!
I drew this cartoon for the July CHOGNews.
Yesterday, I got to do something that has scared me and gives me a bit of a thrill every time I do it. I told the story of David, Nabal and Abigail as I drew it. Now if you ask me to draw a cartoon, I can oblige with a quick doodle. And if you ask me to tell a story, I can be rather quick with some details and a few exaggerations for effect. But I discovered a few years ago, telling a story while I talk can make for some drama within my head.
When I draw as I tell a story, I have to make my left side of my brain and the right side play well together. As I’m drawing, I have to remind myself to say a few words about that mean Nabal, and David’s angry soldiers. It’s a bit of a stretch.
And that’s why I do it. I want the kids to engage both sides of their mind when they hear the story. Â I want the logical, left brain kids to get the facts. I want the creative, right brain kids to see the story come to life with a marker and paper. It’s a little low-tech, but not quite flannel graph. It’s a sweet spot for me.
I do it because I remember when an artist came to my church when I was a teen. He drew these beautiful scenes in chalk and had lighting effects that made the water appear to be moving. He made a sunset come to life. It lit up my imagination and made me see creative through the church in a different way.
My doodles aren’t anywhere near the work of art of that guy, but if I can help a child remember the story and maybe inspire him or her to tell it in their creative way, then I’ve done my job.
Besides, It’s fun flying without a net. It brings a little adventure to one’s day!
