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Random Thoughts

Random Thoughts,

Through the Bible in 90-Days

Reading through the Bible in ninety days is one of the more time consuming spiritual challenges I’ve pursued. Taking on spiritual goals is not new for me. I’ve read the Bible in a year (several times), done liturgical prayers each day for a year, practiced seasons of fasting, sought extended times of solitude, done intensive studies, and taken on other such ambitions.

But nothing has taken as much time out of the day as reading through the entire Bible in 90-days. This goal takes time, at least 30-45 minutes a day. And you can’t fall behind or you’ll never catch …

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Apocryphal, Belize, Book Reviews, D'Oliva Olive Oil, Family, Goble Properties, Junkyard Management, PathLight, Random Thoughts, Sabbatical, The SOLD Project, Westmont, Wine Reviews,

Taking Stock

Junkyard Wisdom is 4-years old now. Topics have bounced from leadership ideas to wine reviews, from PathLight updates to family stories, and a wide range beyond all that. All of it has reflected my range of interests and ideas.

After four years of this, it’s time to again ask what you have enjoyed most. I can easily look at the data and see what posts were the most popular, but sometimes popularity isn’t the same as having an impact. A quick example: the most visited post of all time was a book review, but that’s mostly because the author promoted …

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Apocryphal, Junkyard Management, Random Thoughts,

My 2013 Predictions

A year ago I began a new tradition and posted ten predictions for the upcoming year. And you know what? I was actually fairly accurate!
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Among other things, I predicted the Giants would win the World Series, the economy would slowly improve, Obama would win the election, the Mayan apocalypse would not happen, the London Olympics would be great, China will keep growing, and the Occupy folks would lose steam. Not bad!

Of course, I missed it on the Priceline Transporter, Hawaii seceding from the Union, and the Kanye West marriage to Taylor Swift. But hey, you didn’t really …

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PathLight, Random Thoughts,

Advent

Sometimes I read something and am awed by the wisdom some people have. This seems to happen a lot when I come across the writings of Lesslie Newbigin. The quote below, sent to me by a good friend, strikes just the right chord at this time of year:

“The Advent faith is the faith that there are really new possibilities for our world. It means that we have a certain skepticism towards this world. We do not act as if this was the only possible world… are sure that this other world is not just a dream, but that it …

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Belize, Random Thoughts,

Coins on the Sidewalk

I found two things in a parking lot the other day.  Both were out of place, lost, and lonely.

The first thing I found was a Belizean quarter.  That’s worth about 12 US cents.  No idea how it got in the parking lot of a Pleasanton Home Depot, but it was.  Finding the coin struck me in a reflective way, and I began wondering what this little coin was doing here. It was lost. It would be scared in this big strange land. Certainly it would be lonely. All the other hot shot American coins were probably teasing it.

So …

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Family, Goble Properties, PathLight, Random Thoughts, The SOLD Project,

An Amazing Month

I seldom think of a particular month as “amazing”, but November seems to qualify.  A lot of good things happened this month and I’m deeply thankful for them.  It began with the racing day at Sonoma Raceway, followed by a fun day with the SF Westmont Urban students at our home.  There was the incredible D’Oliva harvest, and then we got an offer on a property we’ve tried to sell for over a year (and it closed within 3-weeks).  In the middle of the month I had lunch with a new friend, and within a week he had …

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