When I was in high school, I was a part of Youth For Christ's very active Bible Quiz program. Now, it was a long time ago, but I still remember a lot that I learned in studying books of the Bible in this highly competitive atmosphere.
We've always found our family in the comic strips. Yeah, frequently one of the kids would come to me with some cartoon in the newspaper and say, "Here we are, Dad!" And we were, sure enough. And it was often that comic strip—maybe you've seen it—Family Circus. The man behind it obviously has had children of his own. For example, whenever the parents find a mess, or something eaten or missing, they of course start asking the children who did it. Needless to say, no one ever takes responsibility. The parents always end up concluding that it was "The Ghost of 'Not Me.'" Does he live at your house—The Ghost of "Not Me"? Oh listen, I know a Father who has a hard time getting His kids to say, "It was my fault." Yeah, the kids are you and me.
Because we have so many Native American friends in the Southwest, I was carefully watching a ravenous wildfire in eastern Arizona. You know, when you are told to evacuate, honestly you never know if you'll have a home to come back to.
Well, I mean that was a news story that got my attention a while back. The missing cross was a six-foot-tall metal structure that was embedded in rock and concrete, and it was perched high up on Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Desert. Veterans actually placed it there to honor those who've died fighting for their country. And wow! It's been there for 75 years—no problem; suddenly—problem. People who didn't want it there argued against it all the way to the Supreme Court. And for the time being, the Justices said that it could stay. But then somebody just went up there and stole the cross. It's crazy.
Joey's story really touched me. Joey ran in the handicapped Olympics that were held in conjunction with the Olympics in Seoul, Korea some years ago. Of course it was at a separate location, and in his particular track event there were only two people competing. Well, Joey got off to a good start, but of course because of his handicaps, his arms and legs were flailing and he wasn't very graceful. The announcer was heard to say at the beginning of the race, "I'm glad I'm not like Joey."
You hear a lot about plea bargaining in court cases these days, but plea bargaining...that's not a new idea. Every child learns the art of negotiating his way out of his disobedience. You might call it the art of "yeah, but." For example, "You don't have your homework" says the teacher. "Oh, yeah, but the dog ate it." Or, "My grandma died." For the sixth time? See, that art is first developed at home. "You didn't call" says Dad. "Yeah, but there was no phone." "Yeah, but my watch blew up. I didn't know what time it was." See, Children are experts at knowing what they should do and then finding ways to excuse not doing it. Well, Father isn't impressed.
When I spoke at a winter conference in Canada, the word cold took on a whole new meaning to me. It was 40 degrees below—that's Fahrenheit, not wind chill temperature! We added the wind chill in just to make it a little more exciting. It was the coldest, sustained temperature I have ever been in.
During two visits to South Africa, I grew to love the people of that troubled country and its history too. It used to be British turf, except for the tribal lands of the great Zulu Warriors. And in 1879 the British army moved in under Lord Chelmsford, invaded Zulu land to claim it as a property for The Crown.
I realize now that I really wasn't ever going to make it as a tennis player. Oh, I played the most with my son. And, I think I had a decent serve for a beginner. But I had trouble returning my son's shots. Now, I think you'll agree that is a basic skill for succeeding in tennis. You do have to get it back to the other guy. Actually, that's important in a lot of sports. For example: volleyball; you lose the point when you can't return the shot; ping-pong; oh, you know, there are a lot of places where that's important. In fact, in most arenas returning the shot—well, that's an important skill to be cultivated. In one arena it's a skill to be eliminated.
My children love roller coasters. They did not get it from me. When my dad took me on the big "thrills and chills" coaster at our city amusement park, I needed counseling for years to come!
Of course, you don't have to buy a ticket these days to get a wild ride. Just invest in the stock market. Talk about ups and downs! And Wall Street's wild rides these past few months are only a mirror of a world that seems to be off-the-charts financially. You know, questions about America's credit rating that have come up, well, they aren't helping, and then other country's credit ratings. And, you know, they're saying that our future rating may depend on how well Washington budget negotiations go. Well, in that case, hang on tight.
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