One of the great things about living in a small community is the down home flare it offers. In our community, there is one weekly event that causes local residents to hustle down to the local convenience store. No, it's not the lottery, it's The Valley Trader. The Valley Trader is a quirky wee
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11/30/2011
I'm beginning to think that our population has either become extremely dumb or we've become so litigious that we look dumb. There are so many warning labels that just make you go, "Would anyone really do that?" that you can't imagine that we've fallen to that level of stupidity, but hence the
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11/29/2011
Sometimes you get that perfect "make it happen" client who makes this job a blast. In a closing today, I had to tell my client that the listing agent forgot to leave the keys at her new property, and he didn't get them to the closer prior to closing for the property. "No problem," she said. She
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11/28/2011
Luke 19.10 "For the Son of Man came to find and restore the lost." (Message Translation) When I was a young man, I often thought about what it would be like to have kids. I could envision two little kids, one boy and one girl, running around our house (it didn't actually end up that way). After
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11/27/2011
Twenty-nine years ago I married my best friend, and 29 years later, she still is. I knew Buffy's parents before I met her. They were parishioners at a church where I was an associate pastor, but before I even met them my mother and Buffy's mother started a conspiracy to get us together. I was a
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11/25/2011
In every industry, there are the superstars and there are the rest of the folks. It doesn't matter if it's real estate or raising chickens. There will always be some who are further ahead in skills and techniques than others. I have to laugh when I hear people like the OWS folks talk about cre
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11/25/2011
I just wanted to drop by AR and say, "Happy Thanksgiving to all of the great Rainers I've met and those I'll met. I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends, and I hope you take a moment to reflect on all of the things you're blessed with in this great country. Even in our worst da
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11/24/2011
It was the night before Thanksgiving, and all through the house, everyone was sleeping, even the mouse. They were dreaming of turkey, potatoes and dressing, macaroni and cheese and biscuits and blessings. Their plates would run over, but they would finish each bite in hopes of returning for secon
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11/23/2011
I personally love Thanksgiving as much as any other holiday. It might be my favorite. Family and friends gather together to enjoy each other's company and to reflect on what they're thankful for. What's not to like about that? One of the great benefits of living in this part of Virginia also
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11/23/2011
When I was growing up, we had never put a man on the moon, there were no cell phones, no personal computers, no IPads, no fax machines, no video games, no large screen TVs, no color TVs (part of the time), no electric cars, only a few medical breakthroughs and on and on and on. Alright, quit tha
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11/22/2011
