Blog Archives - Page 9 of 11 - Dallin Malmgren
2019
What I like and don’t like about Christmas…
It’s the most conflicted time of the year. Most eagerly anticipated by children—highly stressful to many adults. A time of giving and a time of adding debt. Worship and idolatry. Unconditional love and avid self-interest. Family traditions and perilous travel plans. Let’s face it—love and hate. My original plan was to write about what I like […]
2019
My Ten Favorite Books*
I always give books as gifts at Christmas. Yeah, mine is not the present that my loved ones are most anxious to open. But I look at my book gifts kind of like bait on a hook. You never know when the fish is going to strike, and there’s always a chance it could be […]
2019
Saving…a dying art
When I was young, we saved everything—the last blob in the peanut butter jar, the rubber bands on the newspaper, TV dinner trays, S & H stamps, even aluminum foil (if it was clean). We did that because: a) we might need it again; b) it was wasteful not to; and c) children in India […]
2019
For You
I’m just coming to the stunning realization that everything I do is for You. Every event in my life is designed to bring me closer to You. That is hardly ever my purpose, but that is always Your purpose. Not that I am a chess piece. I have absolute utter free will in every move […]
2019
My First Kiss
Part I Except for a brief homosexual crisis during my drug-addled era, I have always been comfortable around women. I like girls. They are generally better conversationalists than men. They almost always smell better. Then there is that sex thing… My first kiss was not consequential. It happened in second grade on the playground. Frankie Silvestri […]
2019
Illness strikes
“I need for something No, let me break it down again I need for something But not more medicine.” –from Ill With Want by the Avett Brothers The Malmgren Thanksgiving reunion ended on Sunday. There is nothing on this earth I value more than getting together with my three children, their spouses, and our six granddaughters. […]
2019
My thankfulness…getting specific
Most all of us are going to say the prayer…and mean it. We are grateful for the food, and for our families, and for our riches and comforts (we don’t usually say it that way), and for our country, and for being free to be thankful. That’s all good. Have any of you patriarchs (or […]
2019
The joyful journey
God enjoys us enjoying…I’m certain of that. No doubt, building our character is more important. Think of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Who wouldn’t want those attributes? Doing right ranks higher than having fun. You can have fun doing wrong, but you can’t nurture the […]
2019
Mary Theresa Knox and my favorite jacket
Last Saturday night my son facetimed me. He was at a father-daughter camp-out, and while sitting around a campfire he told them of a ghost experience that I used to tell. A bunch of 8 year oldish girls were standing behind him, and they wanted me to corroborate the story. Which I did. Here is the […]
2019
What I can do (to live in Your presence)
*I can become a better listener. *I can give more of myself. *I can give Karen the space and nearness she needs. *I can press on in my devotions. *I can make more friends. *I can reach out to my past. *I can be a better, more trusting steward of Your generosity. *I can find more stuff […]
2019
The earth is flat…
There’s an NBA guy who said that—took a lot of scorn—but I get it. He was just looking at his world. Our perception of the earth equals our consciousness. It is not the same for all of us. We see what we see; think what we think; and believe what we believe…and constantly seek verification from […]
2019
The stages of my life
Because God always takes the long view. Think of how many events in your life seemed “live or die.” I’m being dramatic—I mean just mattered so intensely at that particular time in your life. Oh my, the crises I’ve gone through (real or imagined, internal or external) and how they shook me up—I once felt […]
2019
Dealing with the ego
I was a huge fan of Game of Thrones. Eight seasons to find out who was going to end up on the Iron Throne—what a concept! If you stopped to reflect, those characters were some of the most egotistical in the history of literature: Joffrey and Cersei and Stannis and, yes, Danerys—all driven by a […]
2019
I believe in You…not so much in me
That is the crux of my spiritual conflict. I get it. Jesus died for me. Believing in Him, I have life everlasting. I have been sealed in Him by the gift of His Holy Spirit. He is here with me right this minute. He offers me living water—the bread of life—abundant living. I see the […]
2019
My Top Ten Tech Benefits
A cold, rainy day—trapped inside—what do we do? Obviously, we turn to our technology. I read a lot about the many pitfalls of technological dependence, but I don’t know anyone who would give their stuff away, which got me to thinking—what good does it do me? Which, because of the way my mind works, led […]
2019
Don’t blame _______
This one goes out to Democrats and Republicans and especially our President, who always seems to find someone else responsible for his discontent. I don’t think he started it, but the blame game seems to be reaching epidemic levels. I’m detecting a human dynamic (meaning, I don’t see it some of the time, I see […]
2019
What I Endorse (the artistic version)
One the one hand, this is totally subjective. I am writing to myself. On the other hand, almost everything I have found enthralling, especially in the realm of the arts, came to me through someone’s recommendation. So what I endorse becomes what I recommend—I would love to share the pleasure and insight and inspiration that […]
2019
Teach me to listen…
This has been my personal struggle…I have never been a very good listener. I get lost in my mind—not a positive trait. My students sometimes had to yell or poke me if I was engaged in something else. I can only talk with my own children, my family and a few friends on the phone, […]
2019
Improving Our Planet
The other night we were hanging out with our granddaughters, preparing dinner. Kallie was out of town and Zack had to work late. Can’t remember how it came up, but I asked Harper what she would say if an angel of God appeared to her and said she could remove one thing from the planet, […]
2019
The Greening of Our Minds
This is a useful subject—one that needs to be promoted. The context is for me, of course, retirement; but the concept should be addressed whatever stage of life you are going through. Your mind is only a part of you. (Definition of you: your mind, body, feelings, will, soul and spirit.) Think of it like […]
2019
What I Endorse
This writing exercise (which I stole from Esquire magazine) always worked well in my Creative Writing classes. I think I know why—it is fun to think about stuff that you like. Of course, I used to do my list with my students, but I no longer remember what I put. This is my list from now. […]
2019
“I am with you always…”
The number one thing that people (including many Christians) don’t get about Christianity is that Jesus is right here, right now. Imagine that! Put Him in the chair next to you, or have him ride shotgun (or in the back, He doesn’t mind), join Him on the back porch, leave room for Him on the […]
2019
My Writing Confession
I was only supposed to teach for five years. After that I was going to be a successful Young Adult author, about one book a year, speaking engagements around the country, maybe a movie deal or two. You know, John Green. That was the dream, and I worked at it—you should see the voluminous notes, […]
2019
The Detritus of Life
I have a confession to make, and it is pretty horrible…some of you should stop reading now. This really happened. Karen and I and her Aunt Faith were staying the night in Fenton, Missouri after spending the whole day moving Faith out of her home. The next day we would fly to Dallas where Faith […]
2019
“Is it fun being you?” … (why I asked that)
I suspect most teachers have certain questions they use as conversation starters (especially on a 1:1 basis). One of mine was: “Can I ask you a personal question?” If they said no or hesitated, I said, “Okay, fine.” Nine times out of ten, those recalcitrant ones would say, “Never mind. What is it?” Most of […]
2019
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Do you even want to change? Yeah, I know about all the self-help books sold every year…but I think telling ourselves we would like to change is spiritual comfort food. And taking itty-bitty steps down that path is dessert. Then you are done. Do you want to change? We all feel like we should, in one […]
2019
Reading revisited
While playing golf, my friend Dan asked what I would do with the rest of my day. After making the “If I have a beer, I will probably take a nap” confession, I said I’d probably work on my blog or read. “Reading never came easy to me, so I don’t read much,” Dan said, […]
2019
Reflections on retirement–then and now
This is a bit of a cheat, but I like it and it’s my blog. You know how Facebook will play like your memory, revisiting things you posted in the past? I posted what follows shortly after I retired. I want to repost it, along with comments on how it looks five years later. (Comments […]
2019
Artfulness
The world needs more art. I realized this as I was watching a film called Eighth Grade awhile back. I wondered what made me appreciate the movie so much. It was a realistic portrait, very much the way kids are (as I remember from teaching and being). And it was uplifting. Certain values were sown […]
2019
Money — the spiritual side
You shall have no other gods before me. What does that mean? That is a spectacularly authoritative command. Almost egotistical. Except it’s not, because God has no ego, and it’s not a command but an invitation. How can you not enthrone the All Powerful who has nothing but unconditional love for you? But He will […]