Monthly Archives: December 2018

There Must be a Pony!

Posted on December 22, 2018 by mitchteemley

Last week we found out someone had stolen a credit card out of our mail box, activated it, and bought themselves a top-of-the-line computer from the Apple Store! Um, Merry Christmas? (Yes, we’ve disputed the charge.) The next day we … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Memoir | Tagged , , , , , , , | 37 Comments

Movies That Have Changed Me

Posted on December 21, 2018 by mitchteemley

Fantasies The release of Mary Poppins Returns triggers my memory, but first things first. One of my earliest movie memories is of The Wizard of Oz, which unless you’ve been living under a stalactite you’ve probably seen multiple times (it’s the … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Memoir, Movies, Popular Culture & Entertainment, Quips and Quotes | Tagged , , , , | 28 Comments

The Light of Humility

Posted on December 20, 2018 by mitchteemley

Studies have shown that most eyewitnesses of an event believe they have observed all that occurred. And yet, the same studies reveal, not one witness can ever accurately recount the entire event. Until we turn on the light of humility, … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, Story Power | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Beyond My Comfort Zone…

Posted on December 19, 2018 by mitchteemley

My Featured Blogger this week is Lynn Abbott of Through Ink and Image. Although we’ve never officially met, Lynn and I have adopted an “old friends” view of one another, having lived and worked in so many of the same … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, For Pastors and Teachers, Quips and Quotes, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

Compassion

Posted on December 18, 2018 by mitchteemley

It’s no secret that this season of love is also (uncoincidentally) an especially hard season for those who feel abandoned and alone. May we reach out to them with our prayers, with our words, and with our actions — in … Continue reading →

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Quips and Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Take All of Me

Posted on December 16, 2018 by mitchteemley

“If (we) hope to produce work that will bear good fruit, we must draw our life from the true source – our living Savior. He is real. He is present. But all too often we reduce him to an abstraction, … Continue reading →

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Quips and Quotes, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Home is Where the Odd Is

Posted on December 15, 2018 by mitchteemley

“Decorate your home. It gives the illusion that your life is more interesting than it really is.” ~Charles M. Schulz Man, those 80’s boomboxes were big! This real house in Fafe, Portugal has a built in sound system that exclusively … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Humor, Mitchellaneous, Quips and Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Doubt and Faith: Christmas Edition

Posted on December 14, 2018 by mitchteemley

Painting by Gari Melchers (1860 – 1932) I struggled with my faith recently. I do that. Cyclically. Some proxigean tide will send a wave of doubt crashing over me, producing the impression of drowning. I’ll flail and gasp, sometimes for … Continue reading →

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Memoir, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , | 66 Comments

The Holes in Our Reality

Posted on December 13, 2018 by mitchteemley

The familial warmth and sentiment of Christmas can, ironically, obscure the real reason Christ came: to reveal the holes in our reality. Our world isn’t a natural one, he showed, but an unnatural one, a broken shadow place hidden from … Continue reading →

Posted in For Pastors and Teachers, Quips and Quotes, Religion/Faith | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Santa Should Be On The Naughty List

Posted on December 12, 2018 by mitchteemley

My Featured Blogger this week is a permanent resident of Santa’s naught list, the splendidly snarky D. Parker of yadadarcyyada.com. Darcy peppers her witticisms with colorful fonts and gifs galore (not “gifts”–that’s jolly old You-Know-Who’s department), so if the other … Continue reading →

Posted in Humor, Popular Culture & Entertainment, Quips and Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments