Eric Needle

I spent the weekend at a Catholic retreat center in Indianapolis to be part of a program that had “Rest and Renewal” in the title! It was good to get away and be still before God. During the program we looked at some Bible passages and how they can apply to our lives. It was like a mini Via de Cristo with small group sharing, fellowship, and talks on the Christian life. During Saturday’s free...

Last Sunday the weather was really bad and we got a great deal of snow.  I was scheduled to substitute as a pastor for a small church about an hour away. As I prepared to get ready I received a text from the church that they were cancelling due to the weather. I was relieved not to have to deal with the snow and driving! So I went from my “church clothes” to sweats and...

Good morning Friends! I’ve decided I don’t like cell phones anymore! Saturday I upgraded from my beloved flip phone to a phone of immense proportions and swiping capability. Now trying to get used to the 100’s of things this phone can do, I’ve forgotten all I want to do is talk on it and text. But the little guy at the cell phone store was so good with the phone and made it look easy...

Greetings my brothers and sisters in Christ: I can’t think of anything more scary than waking up in the middle of the night cold. I had that terrible feeling something was wrong and I was right. The pilot had gone out on my furnace Sunday at 3 a.m. I find out later in the day through a repair person the ignitor switch had gone out and had to be replaced. I like to have my...

Anxiety is my friend. That may sound kind of weird, but I have lived with anxiety all my life. I stopped fighting it a long time ago and now just accept it as part of my personality. I realize the anxiety is there, I “talk” to it, tell him everything is okay and it drops to almost nothing. One way anxiety manifests itself in me in my life is to sometimes “speak before I think.” ...

Good Morning Friends: Are you a morning person? I’m told there are two kinds of people: those who wake up and say “Good God, it’s morning..” and those who wake up and say “Good, God, it’s morning”. Two perspectives I think and a comma makes all the difference. I’m a morning person as I age I’m finding the evenings getting “shorter” at least as far as energy is concerned! In driving my high school son...

Blizzard weather arrived this week on the East Coast. I think whenever you hear something about snow and three feet of it, it’s a reason to be concerned and to plan to make other plans! Weather interrupts our lives. That kind of snow shuts down schools, businesses and churches! I used to get mad when the storms in my area hit on Saturday nights and, sure enough, church would have to be canceled the next...

Good Morning! I never knew how hard it is to buy eyeglasses! I have for many, many years worn contact lenses and then “readers” to improve everyday sight, etc. I went to a store to purchase glasses and, without knowing it, I bought “single vision” glasses. When they came in I could not read the computer or print. It turns out, I discovered this weekend, that the single vision glasses are for distance vision. If...

Visiting the gravesite of a loved one is a powerful experience. My mother died back in May of last year and Saturday I took a small, cement bunny to place next to her headstone. She loved the smaller of God’s creatures and could sit for hours on her patio watching the ducks swim in the pond behind her home. One time a rabbit had made a nest in her bushes and you would have thought...

Happy New Year!   I hope and pray you all had a relaxing and restful time off over the Holidays. It’s always hard to get back up and running as the new year begins but away we go. Some of us are boosted by the Indianapolis Colts winning their football game advancing in the playoffs! Driving back from church I was listening to the pregame radio show. One of the award winning players was being...

I used to work years ago in the new home construction business. I was in the model home looking out at the vast emptiness that would soon be filled with homes and construction. I worked with couples and families to plan and prepare everything for the construction of their new home and I lived in one myself!  There was something special about moving into a brand new home. The smell of never-stepped-on carpet, fresh paint,...

This last week I’ve moved my office at the hospital and it is amazing to me how “clutter” seems to follow me in all areas of my life! I am pledging today to go through papers and miscellaneous, and toss what can be tossed and organize what can be organized! I realize that those items can stay in their box; however, because  I’d rather follow the “WIN” formula in my life: What’s Important Now! I...