This is another story I have copied from Facebook. Be careful if you publish it there. Guys like me can borrow it, and they can put their own names on it. I don’t do that. I would like to add a bit of my own commentary.
I have expressed my feelings about the time Noah spent constructing this craft. My belief is that they were not the primitives that we think they were. Billy speaks of the materials that were used, but when you read the original Hebrew, the translation of the words for these materials is not definitive.
It is possible that Noah used technology that, for the last four thousand or more years, has not been known. At least until around one hundred years ago. Tell me about your opinion on this theory and this article in the comments. Thanks for reading.
I will not call this Chinese or any other kind of dish. It is a combination of many styles we have enjoyed. Springfield Style Cashew Chicken is best served with fried rice. That is our opinion. If you want more than just the white rice that some cashew chicken joints here serve, this may be what you need.
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice (I use one cup of Minute Rice prepared per package.)
1 Tsp butter or olive oil. (I prefer butter.)
1 small onion (Chopped as fine as you want it.)
1 egg
¼ cup water
Soy Sauce (I use one Tablespoon. This is to give the rice a tan color.)
You can double or triple these ingredients and use as large a skillet as you need to accommodate the size of your family or guests. If you like brown or another kind of rice, try it in this recipe. You can also add carrots, peas, chopped water chestnuts, or diced bamboo shoots for more of an oriental feel. Many of the restaurants in Springfield change this dish to fit their cuisine.
Instructions:
Melt the butter in a skillet or wok and add the onion. Sauté the onion for three minutes or so until it is translucent (almost clear). When the onion is cooked through, scramble the egg and immediately add the precooked rice.
Allow this mixture to begin to brown slightly, and before it dries, add the water mixed with the soy sauce. Stir together and allow the soy sauce to brown the rice. The rice needs to be moist and well mixed with the onion and egg.
If I make cashew chicken, I put the finished rice in an ovenproof dish and place it in my warmed oven with my chicken as I cook it. Refer to my column a week ago (January 11, 2026) on how to make the Springfield Style Cashew Chicken.
I serve this with chopped green onions if I am not using it under the cashew chicken and sauce, which is also topped with green onions and cashews. That is why it is called cashew chicken. If you do not like onions or cashews, leave them off.
When we prepared this rice and cashew chicken for our family, we served it family style. The chicken was on a plate, the rice in its dish, green onions, and cashews in their dishes. Our oldest daughter did not use the nuts, our youngest left the onions in the bowl, and our middle child ate the leftover rice any time she could.
We all ask this question at some time. The five questions that we seek to answer in journalism are who, what, when, and where. Why is seldom added in a straight news story. I often ask that question. I am sure that you will also do this. The question today is where?
Where are you going? Where have you been? For my younger readers, you are more interested in the future. We older folks often focus on the past. We should all look both ways before we take a step. Like your parents taught you when crossing a street.
In my teens, I decided to become a writer. Journalism was my first thought. That is what I trained for in high school. In my first two years, I decided to attend a college that had no journalism program, so I listed my major as creative writing. That was the closest they had. That is what I did today.
For me, the answer to where I have been would require many more words than I wish to share here. I desire to encourage you to contemplate not only the places that you have been, but where they have led you and will lead you again. Our path should be plotted by our Lord.
This is what I have attempted to do. My location at this time in a physical sense is not as important as where I am in my spiritual journey. God has taken me through my educational and business careers to my new avocation as an author. This column is a small portion of that.
My ministry continues in the books I am writing. Scripts for plays and shows that I have conceived over the decades are in process. I wish to continue teaching others what Christ has shown me for more than fifty years. This is where I am traveling to.
Your path is different from mine in many ways. I hope that your eternal home is the same as mine. That is in the presence of Jehovah God. This location is usually referred to as Heaven. Some believe this is our default when our bodies die. Part of my ministry is to tell you that this is a lie told by our adversary.
A decision must be made on where you will spend eternity. I’m sorry that I must tell you that the belief I have in the Bible and what it says about Jesus, who is God, compels me to be honest that I do not think you will escape hell unless He is your Lord and Savior.
I advise you not to gamble with your destiny. The choice to accept the gift that you have been given by the life, death, and resurrection of my Lord, Jesus, is life through Him. I hope that is where you will eventually achieve with all His other followers.
My kid came home from school talking about the weird lunch lady.
“Mom, she’s so strange. She memorizes everyone’s name by the third day. Like, all 600 kids.”
I figured she was exaggerating. Teenagers do that. Then parent-teacher night happened. I was running late, hadn’t eaten, saw the cafeteria was open. Grabbed a sandwich. The lunch lady, older woman with gray hair in a hairnet, was cleaning tables.
“You’re Zoe’s mom,” she said without looking up.
I stopped. “How’d you know?”
“Same eyes. She sits table seven, always picks the apples nobody wants because they’re bruised. Drinks chocolate milk even though she’s lactose intolerant. Hurts herself rather than waste food.”
I stood there, stunned. “You know this about my daughter?”
“I know it about all of them.”
She kept wiping tables. Started talking, not to me exactly, just… talking.
“Marcus, table three, his dad left last year. Always takes double servings on Fridays because there’s less food at home on weekends. Jennifer counts calories out loud to punish herself. Brett throws away lunches his mom packs because kids make fun of the ethnic food, but he’s starving by sixth period. Ashley’s parents are divorcing, she stress-eats in the bathroom.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
She finally looked at me. “Because you’re all at parent-teacher conferences talking about grades. Nobody’s talking about this. About who’s eating, who’s not, who’s hurting.”
“What do you do about it?”
“What can I do? I’m the lunch lady. I make sure Marcus gets those extra servings without asking. I tell Jennifer the calorie counts are wrong, lower than they are. I pack Brett containers of his mom’s food labeled as ‘cafeteria leftovers’ so he can eat it without shame. I bought Zoe lactose-free chocolate milk with my own money, tell her we’re trying a new brand.”
I felt like I’d been punched.
“Does anyone know you do this?”
“The kids who need to know, know. That’s enough.”
I went home and couldn’t stop thinking about it. Started asking Zoe questions. She confirmed everything.
“Yeah, Mrs. Chen just… sees people. She stopped my friend from… she helped when nobody else noticed.”
Turns out, Mrs. Chen had worked at that school for 22 years. Made $14 an hour. Knew the story of every struggling kid who came through her lunch line. Never reported it, never made it official, just adjusted portions, swapped items, paid for things quietly. Teachers didn’t know the extent. Administrators had no idea. She just showed up, served food, and saved kids in ways nobody measured.
Last year, Mrs. Chen had a stroke. She had to retire. The school hired someone new. Efficient. Fast. Didn’t learn names. Within three months, the guidance counselor’s office was flooded. Kids breaking down. Nobody could figure out why. Until one kid finally said it:
“Mrs. Chen knew when we were drowning. She threw life preservers disguised as extra tater tots. Now nobody’s watching.”
The school brought Mrs. Chen back. Part-time. Not to serve food. Just to be there. They called her position “Student Wellness Observer.”
She’s 68 now, walks with a cane, can’t lift heavy trays anymore. But she still memorizes all 600 names by the third day. Still knows who needs what. Still saves kids during lunch periods when everyone else is just serving food.
My daughter graduated last month. In her speech, she thanked Mrs. Chen.
“Some people teach math. Some teach history. Mrs. Chen taught us that being seen is sometimes the only thing standing between surviving and giving up.”
The whole cafeteria stood up. Turns out, weird lunch ladies who memorize names?
They’re the most important people in the building.
Let this story reach more hearts….
I took this story from a Facebook post a friend shared. I’ve tried to identify this author. Below I have given a copyright to Grace Jenkins who was listed as the original contributor. If this is yours, advise me and show me where and when you first published it and I will change my copyright to credit you. If you have a story you wish for ne to share with others, contact me. Thanks, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
The best method of promoting your business is not advertising. It does not matter if you use digital media, broadcast media, or billboards; they are not the best option. Word of mouth has been proven to be the primary way customers find out about vendors.
If you are using a marketing company that has not already informed you of this, I feel sorry for you. One of my first jobs out of college was as a marketing director for a small company. We were in a niche market, and I recommended that our owner, who was our salesman, protect his personal reputation. It was our biggest asset.
I had no formal training, so I did not have all the book knowledge. I read every book I could lay my hands on about the subject. We conducted a direct marketing campaign through catalogs mailed to potential customers. We even had a toll-free number to accept orders. No, there was no internet or digital marketing at that time.
Our mailing pieces included order forms and a postage-free envelope to send them back to us. My boss purchased stamps and sent them on the pre-addressed envelopes. When I gave him the cost savings figures for purchasing a postage meter and a number to print on the return pieces to pay postage that way.
When I mentioned that over sixty percent of the stamps he sent out were not used for our orders, he did not believe me until I showed him the accountant’s ledger. I reworked the upcoming catalogs and flyers with freshly written copy. I photographed all the items in-house and saved almost as much money as I received in pay.
When I became a pet store manager, I trained our sales staff to remember the old saying, “The customer is always right.” We needed to acknowledge it as correct and realize that we should make them think it is true, but help them see when they were not exactly perfectly buying the best for them.
There was the lady who purchased tiny fish and put them in with the small ones that ate them the first night. I increased the sales by getting my customers to recommend my store. Later, at another company, I was instrumental in treating our customers in a fashion that they recommended us to others.
Our advertising budget was allocated to regional trade magazines and free giveaways to customers. Many of our vendors offered free sample products to us, which were not purchased as much as they could have been. I even put inexpensive products on the counters to promote good maintenance practices.
I left sales and marketing and became a purchasing agent, supervisor, and manager. I continued promoting my word-of-mouth advertising program from the other side of the desk. I can’t tell you the number of times I told others the best companies to purchase from and why I felt that way.
Improve your business by treating your customers the best that you can. Paying employees better who take care of customers is more effective than the best commercial you ever used. Getting them in the door to have them treated poorly never works. I know, your ad department just laughed at me.
I wrote a column entitled “Springfield Style Cashew Kitty”, and published it on September 17, 2024. I promised to share my recipe for Cashew Chicken at a future date. I finally am going to do that. Unlike most other websites, I will provide the recipe first, then offer my comments on it.
Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
1-2 cups flour
Salt to taste (About 2 teaspoons)
Pepper to taste (About 1/2 teaspoon)
Oil for frying
1 cup Milk
1 egg
2 cups chicken broth or bullion
4 Tsp. Corn Starch
4 Tsp. Soy Sauce
Cashews and Chopped Green Onions for toppings
Instructions:
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Place the flour into a zipper bag and add salt and pepper to taste. Seal and shake to mix. Drop the chicken into the bag, zip it shut, and shake until it’s coated. Allow to sit in the flour for twenty to thirty minutes.
Heat one inch of oil in a skillet or wok. You can use a deep fryer if you have one. The oil should be 350 degrees F. I preheat my oven to 170 degrees F. That is the lowest my oven will go. This is to keep the fried chicken warm as you get it cooked.
While the oil is heating, mix the milk and egg together in a dish large enough to submerge the chicken. You may need more milk and eggs, depending on the quantity of chicken. Allow it to soak for ten minutes and then return it to the flour mixture. Do not overload the skillet or fryer. Cook until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
To make your sauce: Mix the corn starch and soy sauce with ½ cup of cold water. It must be cold water. Bring the broth or bullion to a boil. Stir the water, corn starch, and soy sauce mixture into the boiling broth. Remove from the heat as soon as it thickens as much as you want. If it thickens more than you want, dilute with a little water.
Serve the chicken over or beside rice. I like fried rice and will give you my version next week. My wife and I prefer the chicken and sauce over the rice sprinkled with green onions and cashews. We also serve with stir fried vegetables on the side. These can be found in the freezer section of most markets. Choose a mix you like and prepare according to directions on the package. Enjoy.
Many of us have used this phrase. It has a great deal of meaning. However, while painting a room in our home, I stood and looked back at the first wall I had applied paint to and noted the color change from the wet, to the partially wet, not quite dry, and completely dry colors. The shades were different. It was subtle, but it was there.
Maybe it was the lighting on this bright day. I had all the windows open because the curtains were down. Maybe it was the Christian music playing in the background as I worked that made me more contemplative. Nonetheless, paint drying had a lesson to teach.
Things are different as you start a task, proceed through the various stages of it, and finally reach completion. Never judge a job before you finish it. All you will have is discouragement. Often, I have partially completed projects. When I delay completing a task, it seems that I never get back to it.
My wife and I bought our current home on a bridge loan. This is a short-term mortgage that allows up to a year to avoid paying a second payment while you sell the old property. Our new home had nothing that needed to be done before we moved in. The old house was full of unfinished tasks.
I repaired windows, flooring, ceilings, and more than I can remember at this time. That was after we moved twenty years of accumulated possessions to our new home. Six months later, we were still trying to sell it. Our agent helped us place a price, and we had one offer that was then canceled when we failed an inspection.
We repaired everything on his list and received another offer. This one is for less than the first one. We countered, and the buyer accepted the counteroffer, which was still not at our asking price and included other repairs. I finished the few simple changes they wanted and closed the deal.
I did not spend any time watching paint dry while working on this project. After twenty years in this house, we have made some repairs and changes, and these include painting. I still think back to that time when I noticed the color variations and have confirmed this process with every paint job we’ve tackled.
Life is full of constant changes, some setbacks, and some advancements. Keep going and try something new tomorrow. You never know what you can do until you try. Step out of your comfort zone and see what world-changing observations you can make while you watch paint dry.
The preacher was not an ordained minister. He was the Vice-Principal of our local High School. He was at our church to thank members who assisted at the school and to encourage others to join them. His topic was mountains and valleys. He is the inspiration for this book.
In the mountains
Day One
“Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear evil: for you are with me. Your rod and your staff comfort me.”
Psalm 23: 4
In the summer of 1975, I spent ten weeks in Pennsylvania. I was working as a summer missionary with the pastor of the Bolivar Road Baptist church in Bradford. My main responsibility was to serve as student pastor for the Hill Top Baptist Chapel in Gifford. I do not remember how many lived in that small mountain community at that time. It was so small that we walked to the post office to pick up our mail.
I taught a youth Sunday School class, preached in the morning, and led an evening Bible study. On Wednesday evenings, I led the prayer meeting. We were amid the Allegheny mountains, and many times that summer, I would take a walk into the woods. Early on, I purchased a flashlight that I took with me in the evening in case the sun began to fade before I returned to the house. It got dark early in the forest, and often I would turn off the flashlight as I stepped out of the trees.
Studying the Bible had been my life for over a year. I entered Southwest Baptist College as a junior transferring from a state school where I had been a creative writing major. My plan was to transfer to a different university to study journalism. God’s plan was for me to study His Word.
This was a mountain top experience in more than one way. I have lived all my life in the Ozark Mountains. Nothing in my experience prepared me for the Alleghenies.
If you have never been to the Ozarks, you don’t know that this part of the country is just hills. There are no true mountains in the Ozarks. Some refer to it as the Ozarks Plateau.
The valley is often looked down on by those that live in the highlands. David knew a great deal about hills, valleys, and mountains. He fought the lion and the bear as he protected the sheep. He played for King Saul when he was depressed. He killed Goliath and helped route the entire Philistine army but had to run from the King to save himself because of jealousy.
What causes you concern? Use His rod and staff to comfort yourself. His rod is what the shepherd uses to pull the lambs back from the edge of cliffs. The staff is the weapon that defends him and the flock from predators. We will continue to investigate the highs and the lows of following Christ.
Here we are with another word for 2026. I’ve decided that I need to be responsible for sharing these words with you. If you need a definition, let me explain it this way. If you caused something to happen, you are the one responsible.
I know that you have heard of the principle of cause and effect. It is a physics principle, but it is also social in nature. You need to be willing to admit when something is your fault. If you don’t want to do this, you will probably become a politician.
I’ve been a responsible person all my life. Anytime my parents noticed a problem and asked my brothers and I who had done something bad, they always said that I was the one responsible. This was often not the truth. Older siblings can do that to you.
If they had broken a window or dumped the trash can or spilled something on the floor, I was the perfect scapegoat. They always had a ready excuse. Charles did it. I was two and four years younger than they were, and until I was about six, I often took the blame.
Then I found my voice. This is the problem of not wanting to be responsible for your own actions. Others have voices. In our world of technology, there is often a way to determine where a problem came from.
One of my coworkers liked to use my computer when I was out to lunch. One day, I returned to the office and was presented with an order that a customer said was incorrect. My boss instructed me to correct the problem, and I did. I knew I had not entered that order, even though the sheet she had in her hand noted the time, date, and terminal it had come from.
I kept that sheet in my desk drawer. The next day, when he and I were the only ones in the office, I laid it in front of him. I mentioned that the next time he made an error, I wanted him to admit it. He said it had come from my computer. I reminded him of when I went to lunch every day and walked away.
That never happened again because I logged out of my terminal when I walked away from it. His mistakes could not be denied when the only machine he could use was his own. He lasted about two more months.
Own up to your own problems. They will come back to bite you in the derriere at some point. You don’t know what that is? It is your butt. If you do not want it to be chewed, take responsibility for your own actions. Stop throwing others under the bus.
It is said that we should learn from our mistakes. I’ve learned a lot that way because I had to. I’ve been the one who has also learned from others’ wrongdoing. I don’t smoke because one of my brothers vomited the first time he took a drag. I don’t drink because friends in high school were expelled for being drunk in class.
Life is a learning experience. Use every lesson that is given to you to make you a better person. Take responsibility for your actions and words, and do not pass the buck to some unsuspecting victim. As the sign on President Truman’s desk said, “The buck stops here.” Take his advice, and life will be kinder to you in the long run.
This title could be a story about my friend Rick or my Uncle George. Both were printers by trade. Rick worked for the Springfield Newspaper for thirty or forty years, and George did the same at the Kansas City Star. Some day I may regale you with stories of these fine men, but that is not tonight.
God woke me up tonight to write as He does sometimes. When I walked into the living room, I noticed a light in our dining room. I went to see what I had left glowing when we went to bed and found our printer was lit up with an error message. In the dark, it is very bright.
During the day, you do not notice these messages, and that screen is often dark when we have not used it for a while. Tonight, in the dark house, it was apparent from the next room. You are probably asking yourself, “Where is he going with this thought?”
One of my categories is Tangents. That is what this is. These are wild, stray thoughts that come to my mind. As I sit at my laptop, I am reminded of Jesus’ words, “You are the light of the world.” I’m going to offer a non-theological commentary on this idea.
Light is a common thing in our world. During the day, sunshine illuminates most of the outdoors. If you are fortunate enough to have windows in your home, you can raise the blinds and move around inside without needing your electric lights. My wife, Cindy, likes to do this. My eyes are not as good as hers anymore, and sometimes I must flip a switch for the artificial light.
Jesus was referring to His followers as being a source of light in our dark world. This is a reflected light. That has been my ministry for over fifty years. I call myself a workplace minister because I’ve never pastored a church. My congregation was the people I encountered on a daily basis as I performed my different jobs.
I am a light in the darkness. I tell you about my Jesus and what He means to me. I share with you how He touches my life and speaks truth into it. That may seem strange to you, and that is fine. My Christian readers understand what I am saying. We are lights in a world that is full of darkness, as this room was tonight. A small shine from a printer control screen got my attention. This is our job. Shine a little brightness in the gloom and guide someone to Jesus.
You are not to be a glaring beacon from a spotlight. Just be a candle in the darkness. I’ve had some say that they knew I was a man of God or a religious person. They saw His reflected light in me. I don’t draw attention to myself intentionally.
Others notice something coming from us, and they go like Moses did when he saw a bush burning in the desert. It should have burned out quickly. It did not. Do not be a flash that no one can find when they need questions answered, be that light that brightens the darkness of their distress. Let them come to you and tell them what He has done for you. It is that simple.
Charles (Chuck) Kensinger 