Riney’s Reflections

Welcome to another edition of my "seasonal" column. 

I cannot ignore the fact that spring is here.  Wow!  Without a doubt, it's my favorite time of year!

Our wisteria vine in the backyard is just breathtaking.  The bluebonnets in the lot next to the office are vivid blue.  The Lady Banks roses along the picket fence are a beautiful pale yellow. 

Add to that, the wonderful little yellow and red finches that are all over the bird feeders, those gorgeous cardinals, and so many other birds, and you realize that "God is in His kingdom... all's right with the world."

We are so excited about all the interest in our presentations.  Because many of you have called and asked for a schedule of our speaking engagements, we have posted a listing of all our scheduled events.   Then, if I am in your area, you may contact the sponsoring agency or group and see about attending.

Isn't it unfortunate that things keep getting more expensive?  Gasoline in our area is at an all-time high with the pumps charging as much as $2.20 a gallon.  Milk prices have never been higher.  I won't even bother telling you about insurance premiums.  I'm sure you know.  And, when the company who prints my book gave me a quote on printing another run of "All the Difference," he had to tell me that the price of paper had increased dramatically since our last run, and as a result, we're having to charge $22.95 per book. 

I had to laugh the other day when a friend of mine was talking about his recent divorce. 

He said that a friend of his asked him if he knew why divorces cost so much money.

"No," I sure don't," he replied.

His friend looked at him with a serious look on his face and said, "Because they're worth it!"

Well, I don't know about that... but in the case of the book, I just hope that you think it's worth it.  It's now in it's fourth printing and we continue to get requests from schools who use it for a retiring teacher gift.  If you or your school district is interested, let me know... and if we can get the names of the retirees far enough in advance, I'll be happy to personalize a note to each one of them.

In the meantime, a bit of proverbial wisdom that I recently read:  "Education is something you get when your father sends you to college... but it isn't complete until you send your own son."

How true!

Your friend,