My Portfolio

The premier lesson I've learned from my faith is God really does know what is best for us and doesn't give us anything we can't handle. Of course it never feels that way when we are going through difficult experiences. But with time, God's compassion becomes apparent. We just need to keep our...

Am I the only one who's ever inhabited animal bodies?

The date was January 26, 1997. We gathered at the hospital ICU, my family and I.  It was Superbowl Sunday, but that couldn't be farther from my mind.  My Momma had been in the hospital for a few weeks.  We were at the end.  Her breast cancer had spread to her...

I have tested and tried what I was taught and I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is TRUE!  We are all children of a Father In Heaven who is a person full of love and compassion beyond our comprehension. He wants us all to learn of...

    My father was a stern disclipiniarian.  Yet he was a loving, caring man who took exceptional care of his family.  In contrast to what is happening today in reference to the question Whose fault is it? there was never any doubt in our family.  It was usually our own.  He...

    There is a message that we all need.  It can shape our lives.  It can affect everything we do and all of our interactions with people.  It can prevent depression, lonliness, sadness and heartache.     I t can combat evil and provide strength to everyone who accepts it. THE MESSAGE...

My mother brought me up going to church any time the doors were open.  So we were at church at least three times weekly.  My father never participated until way later in life, after all the children had left home.  My mother had a faith she never questioned.  She read and...

On the road….again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek São Jorge dos Orgãos, Cape Verde People, places, and events are sloshing around in his memory in such an unconsolidated way that it would be fair to describe the state of affairs as a mental soup, with individual places, people,...

Postcard dated November 24, 1911, during time Joe Land was Sheriff of Smith County, Texas. The top back of the postcard is incorrectly labeled Gaston & Joe Land.  I believe the second person is "Wig" Smith, his deputy. Were they at the Sheriff's Association meeting in Houston? Still trying to locate...

Although I have some "whale of a story" stories, I'm tempted to limit my comments on this subject - most of my miracle stories are intensely personal. I can't help but comment on the topic, however, as I have strong views on the subject. Many years ago I came across a...

This week's story prompt:  Do you believe in miracles and if so, have you ever witnessed one?  Describe-- brought to mind two different situations that I consider to be miracles. Miracle # 1:  When I was a little girl we were  living on Seventh East in Salt Lake City, Utah, and...

Cameron Scott Adams was born 28 Feb 2005 to our oldest son, Aaron, and his wife Lori in Orem, Utah at Timpanogos Regional Medical Center, just a couple of blocks away from where Aaron and Lori were living in their newly renovated duplex.  Cameron was their firstborn, and he was a...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek Zaire The Footloose Forester had many a stopover in transit countries that hardly count as experiences that deserve to be included in memoirs. A few stopovers, however, are linked to other events that are burned into the memory...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek Deadline On Guam Of the many lucky breaks that made life a lot simpler and saved a ton of money at the same time, going to Guam was one of them. It really was planning, and not luck that...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Virtual Flight Around A Volcano   Foresters rely on more than their feet. A few foresters have more experience in helicopters than most professionals outside of the military services. This Footloose Forester certainly does. One memorable episode occurred...

Do you believe in miracles and if so, have you ever witnessed one? Describe. WOW ; You guy’s keep coming up with tough ones. Gee in 1979 after my first wife died in childbirth leaving me with a six year old and a three year old son’s to take care of...

....My life has been something like a" card game" you do the best you can with the cards you are dealt. While married, I worked as an Electrician and also studied to get an Engineering Degree. I was inspired by my Department Manager who set up the interviews with a College. My wife,...

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek Haiti in Tears The Footloose Forester knows there are plenty of times when emotions seeped out from his subconscious to the daylight of his true nature. Sometimes in the past, he challenged danger to prove to himself that he...

God does not forsake his children whether the children entered this earth years ago or recently. We read of biblical times when Christ was on the earth and performed miracles like healing the sick, the blind, the crippled, feeding thousands with only 2 loaves of bread and 5 fish, walking on...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek Birthday Challenge   When he was a teenager, the future Footloose Forester saw a small graph in a local newspaper that showed how physical capability peaked in adolescence, then continued on a plateau until age 55, then began a straight-line...