Everyday Lessons from Real-Life Stories

Whether hunting for deer on a frosty morning, making cabinets, or dipping sludge from an outhouse, Robert Stauffer finds ways to learn from his experience. Here is a sampling of stories he shares in this book:

"What was that noise?" I sat up in bed, instantly awake. It sounded like a barbed wire being stretch through fence staples. Suddenly I heard my son yell, "There's a bear in the beeyard!"

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I had never met Rodney, but a burden for his soul descended on me. I'm not that brave a man, but the next Sunday after lunch, I drove uninvited to Rodney's house. His eyes were full of questions as he came out to meet me.

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Mission leaders decided it was unlikely we could get to the Port-au-Prince airport safely by road. Indeed, we heard gunshots frequently, and gang members guarded two roadblocks within sight of our compound. The mission decided to evacuate us by helicopter to the airport so that we could leave the country.

This compilation of sixty-five stories and articles can be read to children, incorporated into family worship and school devotionals, or read for personal inspiration.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• 1. Sixteen Minutes Later
• 2. Changing Perspectives at Nineteen
• 3. Doing What Needs to Be Done
• 4. Cooking the Books
• 5. Pursuing Ideas
• 6. Impress or Teach?
• 7. Are You Listening?
• 8. The Tyranny of Self-Love
• 9. Eating Humble Pie
• 10. What Is Not Said
• 11. God's Answer in Miami
• 12. Analee's Silent Testimony
• 13. The Need to Forgive God?
• 14. A Mistaken Motive
• 15. A Desperate Cry From Hell
• 16. Deicing My Wings
• 17. The Power of Song to Shape a Destiny
• 18. A Great-Grandmother's View
• 19. Pondering the Call
• 20. I'm Ready to End This Courtship
• 21. Am I Missing Something?
• 22. Possessing Our Vessels in Honor
• 23. Hawks Also Need to Eat
• 24. Overcoming Stage Fright
• 25. The Vanishing Rabbits
• 26. Peter's Trap Stick
• 27. First Clean Joke I've Heard
• 28. Exodus Encounter
• 29. A Safe Dosage
• 30. Henry's Gift
• 31. Forgetting to Tell
• 32. The Strength of the Knit
• 33. "Se Lavi"
• 34. Giving to Be Seen of Men?
• 35. One Blonde's Inspiration
• 36. The Haunting Question
• 37. Two Small Coins
• 38. When That Man Got Right With God
• 39. Pardon Me, Your Self Is Showing
• 40. Posh Exits
• 41. A Bear in the Beeyard
• 42. Brainwashed!
• 43. Learning to Fish
• 44. A Means of Great Encouragement
• 45. Where There Is No Vision
• 46. The Parable of a Splinter
• 47. Learning From Rodney
• 48. Our God Is Big Enough
• 49. When Truth Is Forsaken
• 50. What About Your Name?
• 51. The Tattoo That Made Me Think
• 52. What Does God Do With This Prayer?
• 53. Reality Check
• 54. In Pursuit of Personal Significance
• 55. Too Much of a Good Thing
• 56. Blog Authority
• 57. The Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me
• 58. Sometimes I Wake Up Grumpy
• 59. Your Speech Betrays You
• 60. Spending My Two Cents
• 61. Willing to Live Honestly
• 62. Unconscious Provoking
• 63. Your Job Is Too Small
• 64. What Have You Set Your Affections On?
• 65. What Will He Say to Me?