During the winter, a yard can look clean and healthy. The grass is dormant, the ground is quiet, and there may not be a weed anywhere in sight. But underneath the soil, things can be happening that we cannot see. Weed seeds are waiting, roots are spreading, and when the warmth of spring arrives, what was hidden beneath the surface suddenly begins to appear.

That is why experienced gardeners know the best time to deal with many weeds is before they ever break through the ground. Once they are growing everywhere, the battle becomes much harder.

Our lives can be the same way. We can look perfectly fine on the outside while allowing harmful things to grow underneath the surface. Bitterness, resentment, jealousy, dishonesty, pride, anger, secret habits, unforgiveness, or even small compromises can take root where nobody else can see them. At first, they may seem harmless because they haven’t affected anything visible. But hidden doesn’t mean harmless. Just like weeds beneath the soil, if we continue feeding those things instead of dealing with them, eventually the right circumstances will bring them to the surface.

What began as a small hidden thought can become an attitude, an attitude can become an action, and an action can eventually damage relationships, families, careers, reputations, and our walk with God.

The best way to fight weeds is not to wait until the entire yard is covered with them. Kill the weeds before they come up. The same principle applies to life. Examine what is growing beneath the surface of your heart and mind. Deal with bitterness before it becomes hatred. Deal with temptation before it becomes a habit. Deal with dishonesty before it becomes a lifestyle. Forgive before resentment develops deep roots.

Ask God to reveal the things growing inside you that shouldn’t be there, and then have the courage to pull them out by the roots. Because sooner or later, what we allow to grow in secret will eventually show itself in public. KT

Over the years we have had some smart dogs and several that were not so smart. Today we have a five-pound Yorkie girl dog that thinks she is the queen of the universe but is probably the most intelligent dog we have ever had. She has the body of a squirrel with the heart of a lion.

Like all dogs, she could have just eaten dinner but will still beg with the best of them. It doesn’t matter what we are eating, she literally thinks she should be at the table eating with us. You know how if you are going to give a dog a piece of something you are eating and they start wagging their tail as you lean down to give it to them. My dog is way ahead of that schedule.

The other morning, I was eating some toast, and she is zeroed in on what I am eating. I kid you not, that morning I made no move or even looked at her but somehow, she knew when I decided, yes just decided, to give her a treat. Not when I actually broke off the piece of toast to hand to her. I mean when I decided to, she somehow knew. If there was some way to test the intelligence of a dog, she would probably rank up near the top.

She seems to know everything about everything and everybody. She is so intelligent but still wants to poop in the bathroom. Go figure. Well, she may think she is human, but she is still a dog.

Every time I look at her, I am constantly reminded of how a dog can love unconditionally. They are never too busy, never have calls to make, or appointments to keep. She is always available for scratching and attention and the occasional lick across the face. KT

In today’s corporate world there is a pattern going around where companies feel they have to compete on price, at all costs or they will fail. In other words, they race to the bottom of pricing to get the business without realizing it devalues what the client thinks of their service or product.

Develop your product and your service to be different (and better) than the other guys and create a message about your product or service, that is the reason a client should choose you and your company. Why – Because when you refuse to price what you do inexpensively or even possibly cheap, you stop having competitors and start having imitators. Then you become a standout in your field of service or product, and other companies will want to copy you.

The story of Yeti is the perfect example. Two brothers, Roy (28 yrs old) and Ryan (32 yrs old) invented the Yeti cooler in 2006. At the time the best of the best coolers on the market were the Igloo and Coleman coolers which were both sold for about $30 at Walmart. The brothers were professional hunters and fishermen and those coolers kept breaking. It made them mad one day and they created a much better cooler that would hold up the demands of professional users. The problem was, they needed to sell it for 10x what the Igloo and Coleman were selling for. $300

No retailer (Walmart, Sears, etc.) would stock their $300 cooler because they were told no one would buy them. Undeterred, they went directly to the end user. The fishing guides, hunters, sports companies etc. They created almost a cult following for their Yeti coolers. Today, every retailer wants their product in their store and Igloo and Coleman have tried to copy the success of Yeti and failed. The brothers took the company public in 2018 with a valuation of $1.7 billion and today the company is worth $3.1 Billion.

All because they refused to race to the bottom and compete at the low price of the competitors. They created a better product and the market responded. Whatever it is you do, don’t devalue yourself and your service just because someone else did. Stand tall and tell the customer why you, your service and your product are the best choice. KT

There are a growing number of people in business that respond to calls, voice messages and email by simply ignoring the sender, thinking that if you just ignore it, the sender will get the message.

Unfortunately, the message they get by this action is not favorable toward you.

Just for the record, I am not talking about the roofer who calls wanting to put a new roof on your house or the guy who wants you to buy precious metals and many calls like that. I am talking about legitimate calls or messages pertaining to real business.

One of the most successful people I knew was Carl D Silver in Fredericksburg VA. Carl was probably one of the top three most wealthy people in Virginia. He was old school where manners mattered. His modus operandi (I had to look it up to) is short for how he does business and he returned every call before the end of every day. Now his staff would try to pawn you off to someone else but if you just wanted to leave a message with Carl. They were obligated to leave him that message.

You could wind your watch because before 5pm eastern, he would return every call. That’s called class. These goobers today were told somewhere along the way that its better business to just ignore the person.

So, if you do this in your business. Please stop. It makes people not like you and I have never met a person who is so important that they don’t need anyone else. The bible says what you sow you will reap. The non-bible version, says that you get what you give or what goes around comes around.

Either way, if you treat everyone with respect you will receive respect in return. There you have for the Keith Thompson etiquette of the day. Ha. KT

This blog is a touch longer than I usually write so apologies in advance.

There is a slogan that has been around for many years. You see it printed on shirts, hats, bumper stickers, and signs:

“Stand for the Flag and Kneel for the Cross.”

Pretty straightforward, right? To me, it certainly is.

I am old school when it comes to my love and pride for America. I served in the United States Navy for five years right out of high school. I was fortunate that I was never placed in harm’s way. My entire five years of service were spent on U.S. soil, so I would never compare my service to the sacrifice of those who faced an enemy on a battlefield.

But serving gave me a deep appreciation for this country, its flag, and those who sacrificed everything to defend what that flag represents.

I am the guy who stands for the American flag. I am the guy who places his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played. And I am also the guy who is willing to humble himself and kneel before the Cross.

Somewhere along the way, however, something seems to have changed. There are those today who choose to kneel for the flag and the National Anthem while having little interest in humbling themselves before the Cross. I am not exactly sure when that shift happened, but I know this: it saddens me.

America is not a perfect country. It never has been, and it never will be. We have made mistakes, endured divisions, and faced dark chapters in our history. But America is also a country where people have the freedom to speak their minds, worship—or not worship—as they choose, protest their government, criticize their leaders, and even condemn the country itself without fear of being imprisoned simply for expressing those beliefs.

That freedom was not free.

It was purchased at an almost unimaginable price.

Hundreds of thousands of young American men and women have died on battlefields around the world defending the freedoms we enjoy today. Many of them never came home. They never married the person they loved. They never raised their children, built their careers, watched their grandchildren grow up, or enjoyed the long life that so many of us take for granted.

They gave up their tomorrows so that we could have ours.

That is something worth remembering.

I told my Sunday School class a few weeks ago that the first time I walked into Arlington National Cemetery was one of the most profound experiences of my life.

Arlington National Cemetery is difficult to describe until you have stood there and looked across those seemingly endless rows of white headstones. More than 400,000 people are buried there. But even that number is difficult for the human mind to comprehend.

Think about 400,000 graves this way.

Imagine placing a cross beside a highway every 20 feet—one after another after another—representing 400,000 lives. That line would stretch for more than 1,500 miles. Driving 70 miles per hour without stopping, it would take roughly 22 hours to reach the final cross.

For 22 straight hours, you would pass cross after cross after cross.

And behind every one would be a name. A life. A family. A story. A sacrifice. That my dear friends is the price of freedom.

So when the National Anthem begins to play at a ballpark, a ceremony, or anywhere else, something still happens to me. Even after all these years, my eyes sting just a little.

I think about that flag. I think about my five years wearing the uniform of the United States Navy. I think about Arlington. And most importantly, I think about those who wore that uniform and never came home.

People are free to make their own choices about what they do when that flag is raised. That freedom itself is part of what America represents.

But I can promise you what I will do.

When the Stars and Stripes are raised and The Star-Spangled Banner begins to play, regardless of what anyone else around me chooses to do, I will be the guy standing—with my hand over my heart and a little tear in my eye.

And when I stand before the Cross, I will gladly kneel.

Stand for the Flag.
Kneel for the Cross.
Never forget the sacrifice behind either one. KT