When my dad was six months old, my grandmother placed him too close to the fire. Life as a sharecropper in the 1920’s provided little more than the necessities. So, when the blankets caught fire and severely burned my father’s feet, they lacked the necessary resources to adequately address the crisis. With feet permanently disfigured my father sat out in life.

When I was but a wee lad, I remember overhearing my dad talking to a good friend who owned a trucking business. Apparently, one of his truckers hadn’t paid attention to the height on an overpass and had destroyed the rig. For a six year old boy this was riveting stuff, as he described the process of getting that truck out from under the bridge.

I’ve been having a difficult time lately. Nothing major, it’s just that life has seemed really hard and feels overwhelming. Now, I know what I’m experiencing is nothing compared to the trauma many of you are going through, but it does remind me how circumstances can color our view of life if we don’t maintain the right heart attitudes.

I can’t believe the price of gas. I never dreamed I would pay more for a gallon of gas than I do for a gallon of milk. The squeeze to my pocketbook has me thinking of alternative fuels and hybrid cars. Living outside of town leaves me with a lengthy daily commute and I’ve got to find a more economical way to get to work. At the same time, I know with my current vehicles I’m stuck, because my cars run only on petroleum products.

I’ve been praying for Governor Spitzer this week. How well I know the trauma of painful disclosures. For those of us who have recovered from this sort of crisis, Spitzer’s and other public discoveries remind us so vividly of what we’ve overcome and what we’ve learned.

Valentine’s Day can be a difficult time for those who have recently entered into recovery. It can serve as a painful reminder of what your relationship failed to be. At the same time, remember the prospects for a fuller future; Valentine’s is great. As those of us who have traveled this road can attest, the marriage we now experience is far better than what we once had. I encourage you to stay the course and see what can happen.

As I was answering questions during our last radio program, I realized that we’ve done a poor job of explaining the root of anger. Generally, it seems much is written about managing anger, but not as much about the roots. I’ve also been guilty of that trend, so let’s remedy the situation.

How can you find peace in the chaos of betrayal? It’s the question of the ages. How do you escape from the relentless intrusion of painful memories, or the fearful thoughts of what might yet happen. Uninvited, these thoughts crash in on our consciousness. At best, they leave us unsettled and at worse, incapacitated, grasping for a sense of stability, longing for times past where all seemed well and secure.

I love premarital counseling. It’s so easy. You’ve got two people believing they have found the one person in the entire human race who can truly make them happy. They are consumed with bliss and willing to make the necessary sacrifice just to have the opportunity to travel the road of life with this cherished one. Together they will conquer the world and experience true love. It really makes little difference what you say to these couples, because they’re going to do what they want anyway.

As a boy I took a course in lifesaving. This may come as a surprise to some, but I actually passed it. I even remember “rule #1,” never, never, never get into the water with a drowning person. Trying to save a drowning person can well result in your own death. Not that they intend to drown you, but at the moment of crisis they’ll grab whatever possible in a frantic attempt to keep from going under. If you’re nearby, then you just might be the most convenient available platform. Survival instincts can cause us to respond in unnatural ways.