Redemption of a childhood tragedy

Have you ever had something from your childhood happen that just devastated you? Well, I’m sure we all have at one time or another. There was one Christmas that there was a toy I really wanted, I'm pretty sure it was Christmas but it could have been my birthday, it's been so long ago. Anyway, I ended up getting that toy and I was so happy, the only problem was that to play with it you needed two people, it just didn't work well with one person.
I can still remember the pain I felt having something that was so much fun and no one to play with me. Occasionally my dad would but that was about it.

I have told this story to my son several times and when I saw this toy once again in the stores, now sold as a "classic" toy, I of course rehashed the old pitiful story. Well, bless his heart, he got it for me this Christmas and with it he said, "Now you have someone to play it with". You have to know this brought tears to my eyes. To this day, for some odd reason, I still really like that toy.

So now you may better understand the title to this entry. Truly that painful time in my childhood has in a way been... Redeemed.

Milk in the cupboard

Back sometime in April a funny thing happened while I was putting away some of the dishes. I opened the cupboard to put away a container; I could have sworn that I saw milk but I shut the cupboard and continued putting the rest of the dishes away. I then had to open the cupboard again to put a measuring cup away, which happened to go in the place that I thought I saw the milk. I really did see milk, a half gallon of milk. This time I had to pay attention because I couldn't put the measuring cup away until I moved the milk. I turned to my son and holding the milk told him he had put the milk in the cupboard not in the refrigerator. He said he didn't do it but since he is the only one that used the milk then he obviously did it. He could not believe he did that. I was just glad there was more in the refrigerator because that stuff was very warm.

All of this reminded me of when I was a kid; I had put the cereal in the refrigerator and the milk in the pantry. Even to this day I'll catch myself doing some of the strangest things, sort of makes you wonder where our minds are when we do such crazy things. So, how many of you have ever put the milk in the cupboard?

The Giggle Stick

How many out there have ever seen and or played with a giggle stick? Well it's a toy that is shaped like a baton, about 8 inches long and makes funny noises when you tip it from side to side. Anyway, I was in a store the other day with my 19 year old son. While we were going down an isle where they sell party items he came across a box of them. He picked one up and got such a kick out of it that he just had to take one home with him. It wouldn't have been so bad except I wasn't done looking around and so for the remainder of the time in the store and all the way home I got to listen to that thing. You know, if you listen to that long enough eventually it makes you at least smile. Now that we are home things have settled down some but every now and then I'll hear the strange sounds of that stick coming from down the hall. They say we never really grow up and I think this is a good example of that.

Bad luck wife

Her husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day. One day, when he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer. As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears, "You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times...When I got fired; you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed right here. When my health started failing, you were still by my side...You know what?" "What dear?" She gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth. "I think you bring me bad luck."

You might find this to be humorous in a way, but just remember no matter how many seemingly bad things may happen to us in our lifetime it isn't because someone brought us "bad luck". Things do happen for a reason and if you are one who truly loves the Lord then you should know that "All Things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28" KJV

A Good Story

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's pastor once again slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit, and gave a very brief introduction of his childhood friend. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit to speak, "A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific Coast," he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright, and the three were swept into the ocean." The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story.

He continued, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life....to which boy he would throw the other end of the line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian, and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled out, 'I love you, son!' he threw the line to his son's friend. By the time he pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beyond the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered." By this time, the two teenagers were sitting straighter in the pew, waiting for the next words to come out of the old man's mouth.

"The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus, and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son. How great is the love of God that He should do the same for us." With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side. "That was a nice story," politely started one of the boys, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian." "Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, and he once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to tell you that THAT story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His Son for me. You see....I was the son's friend."

This story shows us all what life is really all about; and that is Jesus. Our lives should not be about ourselves but about Him. If you know the Lord Jesus, then it really is better to give up your own life to save one that doesn't know Jesus; giving the one that is right now eternally lost a chance to come to know the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ.

A thought on buying things

"We buy things we don't need, with the money we don't have, to impress the people we don't know."

How many of us really think about "why" we buy the things we do? I'm not talking about the things we need to live, I'm talking about the things we buy just because we want them. I've been guilty of doing this myself and maybe if I really thought it through on my motive for buying what I did, well, I just might have changed my mind about the purchase and saved myself some money and or some debt. And if we are not trying to impress the people we don't know, maybe we are just trying to impress ourselves which is just about as bad.

I may not have said much here, I was just putting a thought out there. We live in a world where people don't seem to think much anymore so maybe this will provoke us to some thinking.

The lottery will dry you up

Tulsa, Oklahoma is a wonderful place to live. We have lived here for 5 years now and just love it. I like everything about it; well, just about everything. Tulsa was doing great too until they started having the Lottery. When that thing took affect we went without rain for over 100 days and what rain we have had since has not been enough to count. The city cries for rain but what it really needs to do is repent for starting a lottery. You see this city has long been a big part of the Bible Belt. We of all people had no business implementing gambling into our city. We instituted an awful sin into our city and wonder why we are having a major drought. We are burning up with fires and threats of fires. This is what happens when we sin; kind of a small taste of going into eternity without God.

Does man really think he can bring in sin and not suffer some sort of God's judgment from it? This world is waxing worst and worst and I know it must be this way for the Bible says just before the coming of the Lord things would only get worst. I myself want to be ready for the Lord's return and as I pray that we would repent for this thing, I'm almost certain we won't. May God forgive Tulsa for the sin they have committed against God, His Word, and also the people of this wonderful city. I pray that He would bless us with rain before our beautiful city becomes consumed in flames.

I believe we are paying a big price for this lottery. I hope it was worth it Tulsa. I know it wasn't!

Flat out of air

I sleep on an air mattress, one like you would get if you went camping. A few weeks ago while I was sleeping I had several dreams in which I was sinking or my mattress was deflating. I finally did wake up only to find that indeed I had lost air in my mattress. It was around 2:00am so I decided to just deal with it and go back to sleep. I woke again around 4:00am to find I had a flat mattress; there was just hardly any air in it at all. So I got up and filled it with air. While I am filling it my son wakes up and says, "Mom, are you alright?" I said, "I lost my air, my mattress is flat." He just laughed and said, "I sleep on no air just fine." You see he sleeps on a regular mattress. I just could not get upset because I knew if it had been him instead of me I would have made some wise crack too.

It finally came 5:00am and I was out of air again so I just got up. I decided that if I couldn’t find and fix the leak I’d just get a new one. We filled it up as tight as we could get it and while I was laying on it I felt a cold stream of air hitting me in the face; I found and captured the leak and I am sleeping much better now. I did get a mattress pad for it hoping that will be an added protection for it. I have no idea how a little pin hole got where it did but it did make for something to laugh about later.

I'm Back

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted anything. It seems like time is just going by so quickly. Since November when we went out to Oregon things just haven’t slowed down and now finally when there seems to be a small break I find myself helping our youth with another play. We did a Christmas play that turned out quite well for only having a week to put it together, this time I have had more time and so I’m quite sure it will be a much better play. It’s funny, I said I would never do another play and the next thing I know here I am doing one; I must be crazy. If they do a good job and cooperate I’ll consider not saying never again.

Another year of Bible Quiz starts next week! We are excited about it and look forward to see what the Lord will do for all of us. It should be much easier this year seeing how my son is going to coach this year. We hope to have a good team and not a "one man band" this year; a team is supposed to be more than one.