Don’t laugh, but as I type this blog post, my 4lb girl dog (Yorkie) is sitting in my lap. My office is upstairs in our house, and she will climb up the stairs and stare at me until I pick her up. I think she would lay on the desk if I let her.

Here is the thing about a dog – If there was ever an animal that has a soul and will be in heaven, it would be a dog. I read an article the other day where the writer believed all the dogs you have owned over your life will all be waiting for you at the pearly gates when we get there. That’s a fun thought.

A dog, unlike people, always has time and is never in a hurry. When you reach down to pet or pick up a dog, they never say they need a minute to take a call or answer an email or call the office. No. they are always ready to be petted and scratched for as long as you want to do it. When a dog looks at its owner, there is never any condemnation, anger, unforgiveness, jealousy and conditional love. It is as pure unconditional love as possible to have. A dog always forgives and never holds a grudge. Side note -wouldn’t it good if people were more like dogs?

I think God created the whole wide world and all the animals in it and created the dog last because it would be the only animal that needs and craves human attention. No other animal has that need. Maybe that is why God gave the dog his name, just spelled backward.

So, my little girl dog and I will continue to share the office space because she knows she is always welcome. Happy fall. KT

Wealth cannot buy health and if you are healthy, you have something that no amount of money can buy. Just ask any wealthy person who is at the point of death. They would give it all away to have life.

Years ago (1992) one of the most hated men in Columbus Georgia was also my landlord in a restaurant lease I had. His name was Ray Wright. The guy was short, mean, small and evil. I couldn’t stand to be around him but once a month I had to go see him to make the lease payment on that restaurant. One day I was driving, and his assistant called me and said Ray is in the hospital dying and wants me to come see him. I wanted to tell the assistant words like ^%#*@% but God nudged me and said go see him.

I knew in my heart I was going to have to tell him about Jesus. If there was ever a person that I don’t want to spend eternity with, it would have been Ray Wight, but I told God, ok. I stopped at a bookstore and bought a bible and outlined the plan of salvation for him.

I walked into his hospital room, and he was looking over his stock portfolio and he handed it to me, and I handed it back. I said, “Ray, I don’t care how wealthy you are, I am here to tell you about Jesus.” He laid his papers down, looked at me and asked me real softly to move the chair up close so he could hear me. I opened that new bible and walked him through the plan of salvation and like a little child, he accepted Jesus right there on his death bed and we prayed together and welcomed Ray into the kingdom of heaven. Ray died two days later, and I have no doubt, when I walk through heaven’s gates, Ray will be there to greet me.

If you are healthy, you are wealthy. You cannot buy it regardless of how wealthy you are. Health is a gift of wealth from God almighty and from him only. KT

When we are reading a book, we cannot wait to turn the page because it means we are getting closer to seeing how the book ends. When we are reading a book, we even will lick our finger and pull the top of the page down in anticipation of turning the page. If it’s a good book, we are fully engaged in the events and story line of the book.

Why can’t we seem to turn the pages in our life? We are either afraid, ashamed, or hesitant to turn a page. By turning a page, it means leaving the old behind and pressing toward the new. Maybe it is worth reading Philippians 3:13-14 again.

In life, we sometimes want to stay on the same page (fear, anxiety, intimidation, low self-esteem) because turning the page means leaving it behind. A pastor I once knew gave someone the best advice I have ever heard. He was counseling a person that had gone through a bad breakup several years earlier. After the crying and the telling of the story, (the same crying and the same story they been had telling everyone who would listen for several years) he looked at the person and said “ok, lets together pick a date when you will no longer let the past breakup control your life. He said, do you want to set a date for today, next week, next month or next year? How long do you want to let your pass dictate your future?”

 The person looks at the pastor and says that was the most insensitive thing I have ever been told. They went away upset and a few days later, called the pastor and thanked him for way he shocked them and forced them to choose to stop letting the breakup control, them. That person said, “I choose today.’”  The memory was always there but the control over their emotions and future had been broken.

If you don’t turn the page, you will never really find out what the rest of the book (your life) was meant to be. You will die with the music still in you because you never turned the page.

There are moments, memories and events that will never leave you, but we can choose to turn the page and not let them control what God has planned for us. He never pushes his plan on us; he always waits for us to choose to follow his path.

Cody Johnson has a country song that says it best – If you got a chance, take it, take it while you got a chance. If you have a dream, chase it, cause a dream won’t chase you back’ KT.

Sometimes when you have some success in one area, you think that success should automatically transfer over to another area. You are good at one thing, and you think you can be good at everything. Take sports for instance, just because you are good at football doesn’t mean you will be good at basketball.

Very rarely do you see people that seem to be good at everything. Every now and then you will meet someone that just has the touch. Warren Buffet says – “know what you know and know what you don’t know.”  Years ago, I bought some commercial land to develop because I rationalized in my pea brain that if I knew hotels, surely, I could do land.

I won’t tell you how much I lost on that land deal but let’s just say I didn’t just lose my shirt; I lost my pants and shoes too. Ha

This is not to say, we shouldn’t try other things or branch out in life. Nosiiree. What it does mean is to get a good understanding of it before you jump off the high dive, like I did with the land investment. So, I think Warren’s advice is very sound – know what you know and know what you don’t know. KT

I believe one of the biggest mistakes people can make in their life is to think that they did it all by themselves. One of the dumbest terms I have ever heard a man say was “I am a self-made man.” What he meant was he did it all and that God played no part in it. I think when those words come out of your mouth, you will find that you just crested the hill of life.

I remember the Beatles in the mid 60’s. They were all things to music around the globe and their popularity was unprecedented until John Lennon was interviewed in 1966. John Lennon said publicly that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. He went on to say that Christianity will vanish and shrink. Well, right after he said that, the Beatles had to cancel every America tour and their albums were pulled from the shelves. After than, the Beatles were never the same.

Deuteronomy 8:18 says; “But thou shall remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee the power to get wealth.”

I heard a man say one time that the more wealth or prosperity you gain, the harder it becomes not to take the credit for it. I believe one of the fundamentals of life is to always keep in your mind and heart how you got to the place you are and never take the credit for it. KT