The first photograph of a living person was taken by Louis Daguerre in The photo depicts a figure on an otherwise empty avenue in Paris in the middle of an afternoon But there rsquo s an apparent mystery about it the street and sidewalks should have been bustling with the traffic of carriages and pedestrians at that time of day yet none can be seen The man wasn rsquo t alone People and horses were there on the busy Boulevard du Temple the popular area where the photo was taken They just didn rsquo t show up in the picture [... more]

My four-year-old grandson sat on my lap and patted my bald head studying it intently ldquo Papa rdquo he asked ldquo What happened to your hair rdquo ldquo Oh rdquo I laughed ldquo I lost it over the years rdquo His face turned thoughtful ldquo That rsquo s too bad rdquo he responded ldquo I rsquo ll have to give you some of mine rdquo I smiled at his compassion and pulled him close for a hug Reflecting later on his love for me in that cherished moment also caused me to ponder God rsquo s selfless generous love G [... more]

Harriet Tubman couldn rsquo t read or write As an adolescent she suffered a head injury at the hands of a cruel slave master That injury caused her to have seizures and lapses of consciousness for the rest of her life But once she escaped slavery God used her to rescue as many as three hundred others Nicknamed ldquo Moses rdquo by those she freed Harriet bravely made nineteen trips back to the pre-Civil War south to rescue others She continued even when there was a price on her head and her life was in constant danger A devoted believer [... more]

My son Geoff was leaving a store when he saw an abandoned walking frame a mobility aid on the ground I hope there isn rsquo t a person back there who needs help he thought He glanced behind the building and found a homeless man unconscious on the pavement Geoff roused him and asked if he was okay ldquo I rsquo m trying to drink myself to death rdquo he responded ldquo My tent broke in a storm and I lost everything I don rsquo t want to live rdquo Geoff called a Christian rehabilitation ministry and while they waited [... more]

ldquo Come at once We have struck a berg rdquo Those were the first words Harold Cottam the wireless operator on the RMS Carpathia received from the sinking RMS Titanic at a m on April The Carpathia would be the first ship to the disaster scene saving lives nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp nbsp In the US Senate hearings days later the Carpathia rsquo s captain Arthur Rostron testified ldquo The whole thing was absolutely providential The wireless operator was in his cabin at the time not on official business [... more]

While I was clearing out the garden in preparation for spring planting I pulled up a large clump of winter weeds and leapt into the air A venomous copperhead snake lay hidden in the undergrowth just below my hand mdash an inch lower and I would have grabbed it by mistake I saw its colorful markings as soon as I lifted the clump the rest of it was coiled in the weeds between my feet When my feet hit the ground a few feet away I thanked God I hadn rsquo t been bitten And I wondered how many other [... more]