Robert Noland – Page 15

Being One for 30-One

We’ve all heard the old saying, “Behind every great man, there is a great woman.” While I certainly never claim to be a great man, I can proclaim I have not had a great woman behind me, but rather, beside me—for 31 years today. For 3 decades and a year, Robin has been my … […]

Distracted Living

I was in my car about to back out of a parking space at a store when a lady in an SUV pulled up and stopped right behind me, blocking me in. I watched her for a moment in the mirror, assuming she was waiting on someone else to move. After a bit longer and […]

Owning Up

Saying that God owns everything is a massive statement in our lives. Stating He owns all we have and we are only stewards is a strong declaration. So, if this is indeed true, we must regularly ask … Is there money in my bank account that needs to be put in someone else’s? Is there […]

The Honor Role

Sunday night, I went to the Tennessee Titans opening pre-season game, looking forward to seeing Marcus Mariota play live. They played the St. Louis Rams, led by ex-Titans head coach, Jeff Fisher. As we know well in the world of sports, ex-coaches and players who leave can oftentimes create bad blood in sports. During the […]

Lean & Mean (& Green)

We have 2 Leyland evergreen trees in our backyard that we planted last year and both now have about 60% brown limbs and 40% green. They’re getting enough water and some others planted farther down are perfectly healthy. So I walked into the Garden Center at Lowe’s where we bought them and I find the […]

Hole in the World

Well, for those of you who may have noticed, I’ve been AWOL the past 2 months. All for good reason. Writing projects and deadlines demanded all my time, plus I felt, for the first time since 2009, I should take a break from this blog. Thanks to those of you who reached out to check, […]

The Final Score is …

In all sports, there is a human somewhere, whether he or she is hovered over an intricate computer interface at a multi-million dollar stadium or sitting at a table with numbers on a flip-board, keeping score. These folks are very necessary to any game that matters at all. For sports, scorekeeping is crucial to know […]

Long (Not so) Lost Family

My wife and I went to her new coffeehouse of choice Saturday afternoon. There was a couple sitting at a table, about our age. I had already taken a seat, but when Robin passed them, they asked what her particular coffee drink was. They struck up a conversation that started about beans and ended with […]

Feeding Someone a Line

There is a neighbor on our block that as the mowing season has begun clearly decided this was not a priority for him this year. As the grass gets higher and thicker, the sidewalk is beginning to be overgrown. Anyone who comes down our street can’t not notice it. This weekend, as I had finished […]

Amazin’ Graze

For several years, I have taught the concept of how Psalm 1’s “meditate on his law day and night” offers a cow cud affect in our spirits and mouths. Essentially, when we regularly input the Word of God, it goes down into our spiritual gut—the soul—and provides sustenance, much like the grass and water combo […]