Happy

by Pharrell Williams

Song Title: Happy
Artist: Pharrell Williams
Album: Despicable Me 2 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (click to purchase album)

Disclosure: The above “click to purchase” links are affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, I will receive compensation in the form of a sales commission. Thank you!

Paul O'Rear Signature

A Drive into the Gap

On September 30, 1972, Roberto Clemente became only the eleventh player in Major League Baseball history to get 3,000 career hits. Three months later, he died in a plane crash delivering humanitarian aid from his home country of Puerto Rico to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua. He was 38 years old at the time of his death.

Clemente is a baseball legend, winning numerous awards throughout his 18-season career with the Pittsburgh Pirates: batting champion, Golden Glove, All-Star, Most Valuable Player, and of course his induction into the 3,000-hit club. The bat he used to get that 3,000th hit has been on display in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, for years.

Or has it?

A Personal Goal

I would like to share a personal goal and see if some of you might be willing to help me reach it. I recently published a book entitled Living With a Broken Heart: Rediscovering Life after Loss, chronicling my family’s journey through grief after the death of our precious daughter Ashley.

In the book, I offer hope to fellow grievers, and practical advice to those wanting to help someone who is grieving.

Sex and the Single Christian

Young Couple

Young Couple, by Richard Foster (Flickr), Creative Commons License

“In a recent study conducted by ChristianMingle.com, Christian singles between the ages of 18 to 59 were asked, ‘Would you have sex before marriage?’ The response? Sixty-three percent of the single Christian respondents indicated yes.” [1]

KBEC 1390

I’m excited to be the guest of the hour on a radio show called “Hour of Hope” on local radio station KBEC 1390 AM, hosted by Melissa Cade. I’ll be talking about my book Living With a Broken Heart.

UPDATE 4/28/2014: The show ended up being hosted by Jim Phillips, the radio station’s owner. Here is a recording of the interview, in three parts.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Date: April 26, 2014
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Appearance: Hour of Hope
Outlet: KBEC 1390 AM
Location: Waxahachie, Texas
Format: Radio

Mark Davis Show

Thursday morning (3/27/2014) at 9:30-ish AM, I will be on THE MARK DAVIS SHOW on 660 AM The Answer (Dallas/Fort Worth). Mark will be interviewing me about my newly-released book Living With a Broken Heart. You can listen live on your radio, or on the Internet at https://markdavis.660amtheanswer.com/. I’m kind of excited!

Mark Davis

UPDATE 3/29/2014: Here is a recording of the interview. Thanks to my brother Wes O’Rear for recording it for me!

Date: March 27, 2014
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Appearance: Mark Davis Show
Outlet: 660 AM The Answer
Location: Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Format: Radio

Paradox, or Balance?

Ashley O'Rear

Ashley O’Rear

Sometimes life defies explanation.

How can a heart be filled with joy and sorrow at the same time?

How can twelve years seem like an eternity, but wasn’t it just yesterday?

How can a simple photograph bring tears to a smiling face?

How can unfathomable blessing give rise to unconquerable pain?

5 Ways to Achieve More

Winner

Winner ©okalinichenko – Fotolia.com

Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in a rut? Do you have lofty ideas and goals, but they never seem to amount to anything more than dreams? We’ve all felt these frustrations from time to time. So how do you turn all of that around? How can you turn those frustrations into achievement?