My Hometown USA

Do Birthdays Expire? The Birthdays They Left Behind Birthdays can be fun—something to look forward to—or something to resent because they seem to come around faster than the extended-warranty calls about your car. Some birthday celebrations are extensive and complicated, involving decorations, dinner reservations and a cake that requires structural engineering. Others amount to a Facebook notification and a thumbs-up from somebody you went to high school with but haven’t spoken to since 1981. But what is the norm when the person is no longer celebrating birthdays? What do we do when someone we love has passed on? What, exactly, is the etiquette for dead folks’ birthdays? As a former newspaper person, I remember when families would pay for an advertisement wishing a deceased loved one a happy birthday. At the time, it felt a little cringey to me. Did the afterlife still receive the local newspaper? And if so, was delivery included with a heavenly subscription? Now we have social media. ...

 Joy When Life Isn’t Joyful We throw the word joy around pretty casually. Coffee brings me joy. A good hair day brings me joy. Finding money in a coat pocket I haven’t worn since last winter brings me great joy. But biblical joy is something deeper. Happiness usually depends on what is happening around us. Joy depends on what we know to be true about God. And that is good news, because what is happening around us can change before lunch. One Facebook post, one unexpected bill, one aggravating person, or one red light when you are already late—and suddenly all that happiness you had at 8:00 a.m. has packed a bag and left town. Psalm 16:11 says: “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” That means real joy isn’t found in perfect circumstances. It is found in the presence of God. In John 15:11, Jesus said He wanted His joy to remain in us and for our joy to be full. Notice He didn’t say, “I hope everything goes your way.” He didn’t say, “May nobody annoy you today.” He didn’t even say...

  Don’t Wait for the Funeral Flowers for the Living My 40x2 +3-year-old mother recently made a request that was unusual—even for her. She wanted to know what we would I say at her funeral. This was not because she had received bad news from the doctor or had any plans to leave us soon. She is feeling the pressure of the countdown. Apparently, Mom was simply curious about her reviews. Mary Jim has always enjoyed being the center of attention, and evidently she sees no reason a funeral should be any different. She wants to know what will be said. And honestly, she has a point. Why do we wait until someone dies to gather in a room and tell wonderful stories about them? We spend time writing down all the things we loved, admired and will miss—and then read them aloud when the guest of honor is the only person who cannot hear them. We fill the church with flowers after they are gone, when we could have handed them a bouquet while they were still here to enjoy it. Alt...

 Just a Spoonful of Sugar Take two aspirins and Google whatever ails you. There is certainly no shortage of medical advice to go around. And by the way, all that singing and dancing about how “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” failed to mention that sugar may be part of the reason we need the medicine in the first place. Mary Poppins never warned us about insulin resistance. Let me clearly state that I am not qualified to give medical advice. My medical knowledge is like a kitchen sponge: It has absorbed random tidbits from everywhere, and occasionally I squeeze them back out whether anyone asked for them or not. I have no medical training, nor have I ever played a doctor on television. I have, however, watched television doctors. (I will never be a patient on Grey's Anatomy...you can die with hiccups on that show!) I have watched YouTube health experts. I have read health articles, studied supplement labels and, for a while, even followed the advice of Suzanne Somers...

  Are you ready for some football? I can hear back in the day…Bocephus sing it now, “Are you ready for some football?” The answer is an enthusiastic—and possibly unhealthy--YES! Sports are a big part of American life. But when the midsummer blues set in and thunderstorms send us indoors, I find only mild satisfaction in televised baseball, tennis tournaments and promotions for the upcoming fall season. My life is empty. No football. Woe is me. Why do so many of us love sports? Why do some take it to levels of pure obsession? We pour our passion into the game, the team and all the hoopla around the season. Sometimes sports provide the excitement and drama missing from our otherwise ordinary, routine lives. Unfortunately, that passion can also jeopardize our most intimate relationships, causing the man (in most cases but not always) to leave the marriage bed for another mistress -- the team. He eats, sleeps and drinks everything sports. He ignores his Honey Do lists, hi...

When Attention Becomes Addiction   Some of us are born hams… I love an audience. Telling stories. I enjoy making people laugh, and I wouldn’t mind going viral—as long as it was for something clever and not because I fell off the porch while throwing a tortilla at a deer. But others prefer the world not notice them at all. I married a man who doesn’t crave attention and our kids do not enjoy it either. Their anxiety goes up when we go out in public…they never know what I am going to say or do. To keep order when they were young, I would not threaten whippings, or grounding, but rather, “Don’t make me sing Broadway!” It worked wonderfully. Only one spontaneous performance that I can remember. They are in the minority when you look at this generation. With technology we have created a new addiction-- Attention. Folks are addicted…to likes on social media To performing for TikTok audiences Getting subscribers To being seen…followed, subscribed, and friended We are inviting the world to...