Bridge Builders

I have moved from blog to Podcast.  Bridgewrks is still the name on Spotify, Apple Podcast and other platforms.  See the trailer below for info.  Now in spoken voice in place of the written word.  We'll see how this goes. Linda Howelton

Fast food is not exactly healthy.   No matter how convenient or inexpensive, food picked up from a window is not nutritious or for that matter satisfying.   A drive-thru is pretty quick but what does fast have to do with getting what you came for, a good meal.   Think about your favorite meal as a child.   Mine was chicken and dumplings which took my mother hours to prepare between rolling dough and boiling chicken.   I’m not saying it was healthy but it sure made me happy.   There was nothing fast about waiting for the dumplings to rise.   When have you ever seen chicken and dumplings on a fast food menu?   Mama said, “Cut the time, you cut the product.” Matthew 6:5-7 5  “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  6  But when you pray,...

I slept in this morning.   My hotel room was dark and cozy, my shower warm and invigorating.   It was time to get dressed and head home.   I retrieved my undergarments from the dresser, put them on and finished dressing.   When I pulled out my luggage, what did I find?   My clean underwear neatly rolled lay sitting in the bottom of my overnight bag which meant I was wearing day old, dirty underwear.   Why change? Who would know?   I’m just driving home alone.   No one would see my dirty self. Colossians 3:1-10 3  Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  3  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  4  When Christ, who is your [  life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5  Put to death, t...

WHAT IS THAT I SMELL! I did not need to see the road kill.  The odor was quite pungent even with the car windows up and cruising at 40 miles per hour.  There was no mistaking that a skunk was nearby.  This one lay dead in the middle of the road.  How long it had been there was irrelevant, the smell was still in the air.  Although, a noxious irritant, a smell known by all, it was the appropriate waffling fume one would expect from a dead skunk.  Any other smell would have been aberrant.  You expect stink from a skunk.  The stench even after death is offensive to all who pass by.  Do not look down on this odious little one.  Skunks are not the only creatures that leave an aroma behind. 2 Corinthians 2:15-16   15  For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  16  To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, a...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the words right out of my mouth.   The words she spoke are similar to what I used for my sons and also use to guide the parents of my patients.   These four words can make or break the trajectory of a child’s life.   Evidently, the same four words are able to corral an incorrigible President as well.   Just speaking the words is not enough.   They must be backed up with prompt action without a hint of fear.   I share the four words with parents at the two week check-up.   The earlier parents comprehend the importance of relaying these words to a child, the better it is not only for the parent but for society in general.   What four words you ask?   THE ANSWER IS NO! Proverbs 29:15 15  The rod and reproof give wisdom,      but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. Speaker Pelosi told President Trump “No!”   She undergirded that no by making sure e...

The day started with an early morning drive, before the sun came up I was already on the roadway.   Just in front of me, a car was moving long perfectly fine with the traffic but the emergency lights were flashing.   I thought, why the emergency lights if the car is moving and the driver is not impaired.   As I continued behind the car, the flashers remained on but as soon as I passed the car to go about my business, the driver turned off the emergency lights.   I said to myself, “Now that was weird’” until I got on the highway and realized my headlights were not on.                    Proverbs 19:20 20  Listen to advice and accept instruction,      that you may gain wisdom in the future. The driver with the flashing lights had been trying to relay advice to me, “Turn on your headlights.”   I was so busy try to figure out wha...

It's a new year and I'm driving a new car.  It takes some getting use to when you have become comfortable with the routine of the same gauges, mechanics and audio system.  I knew everything about the old car so I pretty much functioned on automatic.  There was no need to check the owner's manual, no reason to think about how to turn anything on and no consideration of whether I was competent to troubleshoot any malfunctions.  I knew how to handle that car.  Which brings me to why I had a problem opening the trunk of my new car this afternoon.  I needed to get a box out of the car.  I went into the garage and tried to open the trunk.  It would not budge.  Well, I remembered the box I needed was in the back seat anyway so I attempted to open the back door.  It would not budge.  I had just walked out there not having considered how I was going to gain access to this new car.  My old car was always unlocked in the garage so I a...

VOTING RIGHTS                        By Rep. John Lewis Voting rights are under attack in America.   Quietly, gradually, state-by-state, the right to vote – a right that many people died to secure – is being taken away.   The Brennan Center released a report that shows that voting law changes across the nation will make it significantly harder for more than 5 million voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote.  This should not be happening. Today, we should be making it easy, simple, and convenient to vote.  Instead, legislatures around the nation are creating barriers and making it more difficult for citizens to vote.  There is not just one law, but many types of laws that are disenfranchising millions of voters: voter photo identification laws, proof of citizenship laws, barriers to registration, elimination of early voting and absentee voting, and laws mak...

Worthy of throwing a shoe at this woman.  There is not another Aretha Franklin.

No one would pay to stay in a messy hotel room but we will spend our lives living in messy rooms, dorms and homes.   Over time we get comfortable with the disorganized chaos.   We tell ourselves, we know where everything is and can find it easily.   Occasionally, we clean the mess when expecting company.   We do not pay for mess or want to visit mess. Other people do not appreciate our mess. It takes a very close friend or family member to put up with our mess and if they do, it is for a short stay.   I have been known to clean a house before unpacking my bags.   Some of us carry Lysol to make sure the place is clean.   Who would want to stay in mess? Colossians 1:27  27  To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which   is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Our Lord Jesus Christ lives in us in the midst of our mess.   It is this great mystery of how Christ...

Most birds sound like sopranos.   Every now and then you hear an alto, but regardless they are always singing.   Whether early in the morning or in the wee hours of the night, they sing.   They neither have a roof over their head or a chef to cook to provide meals, they sing.   In storm, snow and blazing heat without air conditioning or the warmth of a fire, they sing.   A bird will sing. Why does the bird sing whether alone or with the flock?   What prompts them to chirp?      Only God knows. Psalm 104:12 12  By them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches. We may not know for sure why birds sing, but we certainly ought to know why we sing.   When we think about the continual flow of blessing that envelope us each day, praise and song should be our response.   When we consider the Lord’s death on a cross on behalf of desolate, sinful man, songs of praise should fall from our ...

 What happens in the waiting room?  It appears only a few   parents   are completing   their   paperwork because they are just starting to fill out forms when I open the door to the exam room.  Urgent phone calls have not been completed because parents are still making calls when I attempt to ascertain why they are in the office.  Children’s coats and hats are still   on   because they were not removed while sitting in the waiting room.  Surely, Dads have already called their wife to find out what they were told to tell the doctor but no, they tak e out the phone in the while I am examining their child   to speak to Mom.  What on earth is going on in the waiting room!   Apparently, not very much.    John 9:4   King James Version (KJV)   4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.   What have we been doing while waiting o...

What’s so happy about “Happy Hour?”   If’s it’s so happy, why do you have to return every Friday night.   It appears the happiness is fleeting.   It depends on who’s at happy hour, if the appetizers are edible, if there is a cover charge, if the drinks are watered down, if the music is decent and for some, if you leave with someone.   The concept of “Happy Hour” is based on a lie because Happy Hour last from 4 PM to 7 PM.   That’s not an hour.   The premise that happiness can be found in a bar or restaurant during a certain time frame is false advertising.   The more time we spend searching for happiness in the wrong place, the less likely we are to find where true happiness resides. Psalm 144:15 15  Happy  are  the people who are in such a state; Happy  are  the people whose God  is  the  Lord . Happiness is not found in a place.   It is found in a Person.   We are a blessed people when hav...

Americans accumulate a ton of stuff.   We spend an inordinate amount of time working to buy stuff, shopping for stuff on line or at the mall, deciding where to put the stuff then searching for someone to come and pick-up the stuff after storing the stuff in our attic and garage for years.   We cycle through stuff in warp speed.   Stuff goes out of style, stops working, no longer interest us or we just want to replace it with other stuff.   A majority of our waking hours consists of managing, organizing or thinking about our stuff.   When assessing how much we get back from stuff compared to what we put in, it is fleeting, fruitless and finite.   Our stuff is giving us all a raw deal. Matthew 6:19-21 19  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust [ a ]  destroy and where thieves break in and steal,  20  but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust dest...

San Antonio had an unexpected snow storm in mid-December.   We did not see it coming.   I opened my front door to picture of winter wonderland in South Texas.   A few days later, the roads were cracked with scattered potholes.   After snow and ice, roadways give way.   Potholes occur due to the expansion and contraction of ground water after is has entered into the ground under the pavement.  Drivers know to expect potholes after inclement weather .   We do not stop driving.   We go around the potholes or at least we should to prevent damage to our car’s rims, tires and suspension.   After snow, look for the potholes, take evasive action and keep on trucking. Psalm 118:24 24  This is the day that the  Lord  has made      let us rejoice and be glad in it. Expect trouble. “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.   In the world you will have tribulation. ...