I commit more sins on Sundays in the ninety minutes leading up to church than I do in the entire rest of the week. Getting my kids out of bed, dressed, and into the car by 9:45 on Sunday mornings is work. And while I try to be a being that functions at a higher level, who inspires people to pursue behavior that is good and right, on Sunday mornings I sink down into the mud and throw slop with the hogs. It’s awful.

The economist went on to observe how the top ten percent of people who earned the most wanted less stuff. And the bottom ninety percent of earners want more stuff than they can afford. There is a lesson here. And if you knew me well, you’d know that I’m a hypocrite of this very lesson.

It was my wife’s repeated trips from the back of the house to the full-length mirror in the hall that caught my attention. Each trip she wore something slightly different. They were all minor changes from the previous trip. She’d do a quick glance up and down, a quick turn to check out the back, then a hurried return trip to the back of the house for a change.

The primary pet owner today is the Gen X family which means the parent or parents are between their early forties and mid-fifties. Households where the oldest child is between 6 and 17 years old spend the most on pets, at a smidge of just over $800 per year. About seventy five percent of that amount is spent on pet food and vet bills. This is, exactly, my house.

Then he took questions. And a couple questions were about topics he had just covered. Others asked questions that the coach felt related to some of his previous comments. And each time the coach felt the question was not up to par or was something he was unworthy of discussing considering how popular and how busy he was, he belittled the person asking the question with a rude comment.

What the research revealed, though, was that the younger church members equated tithing to generosity, which it, of course, is. But what generosity meant to them was treating people nicely and kindly, not giving money to the church.

Find each city's tallest building and that's what that city values the most. Or so said a college professor back in the day. So I put his theory to the test last fall as my business travel took me across the country. 

Communicator Awards 2019 Award of Distinction Winner

My buddy in New York state who quit and left, and who’s trying to ridicule those of us that are proud to call Alabama our home is, actually, a coward. He didn’t like the way it was going so he took his toys and left. He gave up. He’s pouting and holding his breath. Don’t let that be you. Don’t let that be me. If you don’t like it, work to change it. Get involved. Engage.

Somehow the settlers of this great nation gathered their belongings and walked west from one side of this continent to the other. They experienced hunger, heat, floods, mountain ranges to cross, angry and unwelcoming tribes, and goodness knows what else. No one met them along the way with snacks.

The topic of men vs women has been discussed for ages. But I am going to offer my insight in a way that, I think, will help many listeners, especially the men. Because what I’ve discovered is, frankly and in all humility, brilliant.