One-year-old Macy McCartney recently returned to the scene of her personal "miracle" - a Houston hospital. In her mother's sixth month of pregnancy, doctors determined this little girl had to be removed from her mother's womb to have surgery for a life-threatening, grapefruit-sized tumor. After the operation they placed her back inside her mother, and ten weeks later little Macy was born a healthy baby girl.
It was one of those nights when the moon is amazing. We were watching the full harvest moon rising in the eastern sky literally lighting up the countryside. As I was looking at the clearly defined features of the moon that night, I had a strange thought. I said to our friends, "Just think, there's another whole side of the moon that the light never touches."
I've used the same Bible for a long time. I know my way around it like getting around my own house, but one morning I realized it was lost. It had actually been missing most of the previous day, but I didn't miss it until the next morning. Well, my assistant found it where I'd left it in our chapel the day before, and I was a happy guy again.
Here’s a possible Thanksgiving dinner scenario that mirrors something that actually happened to us at a family-style farm restaurant. The turkey is served—the guy carving it just piles it up on his plate, ignoring everyone else but his wife. He grabs the stuffing, loads his plate, sets it down; same with the potatoes, the corn, the cranberries, the rolls. Pretty soon, you’ve got two people at one end of the table stuffing themselves, and most of the people holding up their naked plates—starving.
Schoenbrunn was the first settlement established in what we now call Ohio. It was a community of four hundred Christian Indians, established by a dedicated missionary to Native Americans. They established the first school and the first church in Ohio. As I walked through the recreation of that historic community, I made the hike over to the cemetery they called simply, “God’s acre.” I was struck by the fact that none of the grave markers said “died” by the expiration date of their life. Instead, two little words: “Went home.”
My friend Dan doesn't need glasses anymore because of the power of a laser beam to surgically improve his vision. My wife didn't have to take weeks to recover from a gall bladder operation because a laser beam did the job instead of a painful incision. All the diffused light in the world couldn't do that. But it's amazing what power there is in focused light and energy.
She was one of what’s been called “the lost girls of China”—the babies abandoned by their mothers because of China’s one-child policy. But little Joy was adopted by my friends who went a long way and paid a high price to rescue her from a Chinese orphanage. Well, she’s five now. She’s loving kindergarten. Her daddy was taking her outside to play when, out of nowhere, she said, “Daddy, thank you for picking me.” And then she added, “Thank you for picking me to be your daughter. I love you.”
Roger was approached years ago by his neighbor, Ray, about an investment opportunity—a little fast food business in California for which he was recruiting ground-floor investors; Roger declined. His neighbor was Ray Kroc, and Roger turned down an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of McDonald’s. Well, later another neighbor asked Roger if he’d like to help him get started with an industrial cleaning business. Again, Roger said no. That business became the giant we know today as ServiceMaster.
Roy Harris was waiting for a flight at Chicago's Midway Airport, and he reached for his BlackBerry phone, and the next thing he remembers he was lying in a hospital after a massive heart attack. The first face he saw was Rachael Jacobs, a flight attendant who had seen his distress and called for the defibrillator that ended up saving his life. In the USA Today account he says, "If it hadn't been for Rachael, I wouldn't be alive." Well, she was afraid Harris would die. So she got a cab. She followed the ambulance to the hospital. Ultimately, Roy Harris had quadruple bypass surgery. He's now making speeches about what he calls, "The miracle in Chicago." He says, "I think you're forever connected by a life-saving event. She's a real hero."
They were in a sweat lodge for what they thought would be spiritual enlightenment. Tragically, some of them died. A sweat lodge is a place where many go for what they believe to be a spiritual cleansing—a place many Native followers of Jesus no longer go. But these were non-Native followers of a New Age leader who directed these people into an extended time in the intense steam heat of the sweat lodge and sadly, three of these spiritual seekers died as a result.
Near the end of the baseball season, a dad was able to get some good seats for him and his daughter at a Philadelphia Phillies game. Now, wouldn’t you know—a fly ball came sailing right into their zone and Dad caught it. A souvenir Major League baseball to show off! Not to be. He gave it to his daughter and she unknowingly threw the baseball away. What would a man’s instinctive reaction be when he had just lost a rare sports trophy? He reached over and hugged his daughter and told her he loved her.
The Dallas Cowboys may not have the best team in professional football right now, but they sure have the most impressive stadium. Their owner has built a new stadium that blows away all the others—including those gigantic video screens. Actually, one Dallas player really likes that screen. He said he can figure out the other team’s plays because, well, he can see to read their lips.
My friends took me to an auction the other day where a restaurant was selling off everything. It was jammed! Lots of people there were just bidding on smaller items like kitchen ware and unique signs, but I could tell there were some guys there, the dealers, who knew exactly what they’d come for and what they had decided it was worth. Like the giant cuckoo clock that one bought for $15,000!
It was my big, political move: running for President of my college senior class, and it was close…really close. I lost like something like three votes. The outcome hurt a little, but not as much as finding out that some of my best friends hadn’t gotten around to voting that day. I didn’t have the votes of the people who counted most—the people closest to me.
Each Veteran’s Day, and every day, many people make their way to that long, black wall in Washington—the Vietnam War Memorial. A while back, a photographer decided just to hang out at the wall for a while and record what he saw there. And later, those photos became a beautiful tribute book. Early one morning he got down in the grass to shoot a new remembrance that had been left there overnight. It included an American flag, a Greek flag, a picture of a soldier, and a simple three-word inscription. Suddenly the photographer felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. And there standing behind him was an elderly man who just asked, “What do you think?” The photographer told the man how moving it was, and the man just smiled and said, “I’m glad. I put it there yesterday.” And that’s when that little three-word inscription suddenly took on new meaning…”Only One Son.”
If you see sports highlights of last weekend’s football games, I’m guessing they won’t show any huddles. Oh, yeah, huddles are important. It’s where you get ready to play the game, but hey, it’s not where the points are scored that decide the game.
If you want to make our friend Linda happy, buy her a 500-piece puzzle. When you walk in her house, there’s usually one spread out over a table somewhere. Sometimes it’s all together; sometimes it’s a work in progress. And right close by, of course, there’s the top of the box.
Hey, there's good news if you're a religious person! Some recent research confirms that people that are actively religious tend to be physically healthier, emotionally healthier, and their children are less likely to get involved in destructive behaviors. Good news, huh? But it isn't all good news. See, the bad news for us religious people isn't from a survey. It's from the Bible.
My little son once told me, "Daddy, I don't think our family's normal." Ha-ha, I assured him we're not, and that's OK. Because normal is boring. Both our sons are neither normal or boring, but they sure are close. The bond that started when they were little is even stronger today. Our older son's vivid memory is from when his brother was new-born and sleeping in the same room. And he remembers going over to his little brother's crib in the middle of the night just to make sure he was OK. They're all grown up now, but you know, they're still looking after each other.
Some friends recommended that I stop at a unique museum near them. It features the life work of an amazing man, whose astonishing wood carvings became national treasurers. The guide said he explained how many of his masterpieces began this way, "I saw it in the wood." Well, everybody else just saw a piece of wood. He saw what that wood could become in his hands.
I was on one field working with our high school football team, and my 12-year-old son was on another field playing a pickup game of football. When he came looking for me, I could tell by the look on his face and the distorted shape of the arm he was holding what had happened. The doctor at ER confirmed he had two bad breaks in his arm, and the pain of setting that arm was excruciating. Of course, he could have avoided the pain of getting it fixed by just leaving it broken, right? And just living the rest of his life with an arm that didn't work.
"Squeaky" Fromme was 17 when she tried to kill the President of the United States back in the '70s. She was a follower of the mass murderer, Charles Manson. "Squeaky" Fromme was in the news again recently when she was released from prison. And I cannot forget an interview with her that I read after she was arrested. She recounted how she felt like a misfit. She'd run across the country to southern California, and she was sitting on a curb when a man put a hand on her head and offered to take care of her. That man was Charles Manson. She went with him because of a decision years before that "whoever loves me first, can have my life."
Well, it's the time of year for America's pumpkins to shine…literally. You’ll see them on porches and in windows all over the country tonight. Of course, a pumpkin can't shine without a little surgery first; actually, a lot of surgery. You’ve got to scoop out all his innards so you can carve a face on the old boy, and then place a candle inside him. And when you do, an otherwise boring old pumpkin suddenly glows with this light inside.
"Fame!" is making its third appearance in American culture. Well, that's as in Fame the new movie. Years ago, the story of ambitious, would-be stars and this New York performing arts high school was a movie and a TV series. And it's back again for this generation. The young lady who stars in the new version said recently she thinks the original theme song still speaks to people today. The chorus says, "Fame! I'm going to live forever. Baby, remember my name." She said, "Living forever is something we all really crave. You want to feel like you're contributing something during your time on earth - that you're worth it."
These days they call him the fastest man alive; Usain Bolt keeps shattering Olympic track and field records. And he's amazing to watch! Don't blink or you'll miss him. I heard one commentator say, "We just keep hoping that we won't find out some day that he was using anything illegal." So far, there is no evidence he has. But we've heard about too many athletes who have won their event, only to end up losing because...well, they didn't do it according to the rules.
Some friends let us stay at their secluded get-away place recently. We really needed it! I'd look out the window and I'd see a couple of trees, a hillside, a patch of water. But when I climbed to the top of the nearby hill, "Woah! What a view!" I could see the whole lake, rolling countryside as far as I could look, a huge span of blue sky, sometimes even some deer. Looking out this one little window, I got only a fraction of what was going on. But when I went up higher, I saw the panorama - something a whole lot bigger.
It wasn't exactly science that I taught my kids. I told them that thunder was angels bowling, and when it got to be fall, I told them that when leaves turn in the fall, angels had stayed up all night painting them. Okay, I know it's all about chlorophyll and cold nights, but that's so boring. Fact is, for a few short weeks across the United States, there's this spectacular show of changing colors. And I love it!
Hey I saw them! They just came in for a landing on a nearby pond this morning, after announcing their approach with their unmistakable honking. Yep! The Canada geese are on the move again this time of year. When you see them, remember that those geese have something to teach us.
If you've ever seen the news show "60 Minutes" on CBS, you've seen some of the work of Dan Hewitt. He died a while ago, but he left us his legacy...much of the way TV news is reported today. "60 Minutes" was ground-breaking because it told multiple stories in one hour. For over 23 years, it was one of America's 10 most watched shows. A reporter asked him his secret. His answer was disarmingly uncomplicated. It's four words every child knows: "Tell me a story."
Ted Kennedy's recent death was more than a passing of a United States Senator. It's called by many an end of an era. But some at the funeral, it was a loss of their Dad, their uncle that they loved. Senator Kennedy's son, Teddy Jr. reminisced about an incident that happened shortly after he'd lost his leg to cancer as a boy. Young Teddy slipped as he was walking up an icy driveway, and he started to cry. He said, "I'll never be able to climb up that hill." And that's when he said his father lifted him with strong, gentle arms and said something Teddy never forgot, "I know you can do it. There's nothing you can't do."
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