Wednesday, May 30, 2018

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I hope I don't have to be an expert on a subject to talk about it-in this case, weaving a tapestry. Actually, a lady who served as our receptionist was a very "crafty" type woman, and that includes making some beautiful tapestries. She taught me something about this kind of artwork-that it likes to unravel. All those threads that she so skillfully weaves into a creative pattern have this natural tendency to unravel, thus destroying the design she's worked so hard on. But how do you keep it together? Well, she says you put this frame around the tapestry, and with everything held together by the frame, you can keep weaving the tapestry without it unraveling.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

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If you eat out occasionally, you know that servers can range from helpful to rude to attentive to invisible. I guess customers can, too. But some of the women on our staff were really impressed with the way this waiter went out of his way to take care of them. They went to a Mexican restaurant, and every time their salsa was about half gone, he would notice and he'd quickly bring more; same with the chips. When they asked for a special dressing for the chips, he made sure they had plenty all night long. Later, when they tried to put their leftovers in the plastic container, he said, "Oh, please, no. I'll do it. That's my job." Wow! You probably want to know where this restaurant is, right?He insisted on putting the containers in a bag for them. They were really impressed with his service. Then he brought the check with his name stamped on it, and they were blown away. It just said, "Thank you. Jesus." Well, "Thank you, Jesús." 

Monday, May 28, 2018

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One of our new staff members had just discovered the secret in our headquarters dining room. As she was carrying her lunch to the table, she bumped into this white pillar that stretches from floor to ceiling, and it moved. The look on her face was priceless! She wasn't quite sure what she had just done, or if it was about to cause the collapse of the room on top of all of us. Well, that's the secret. The pillar looks real enough, it's just decorative. It's just made of plastic. It doesn't hold up anything! 

Friday, May 25, 2018

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Amid all the amusement and theme parks clustered in Orlando, Florida, there's one that is pretty distinctive. It's that Holy Land theme park that attempts to bring some of the scenes and the stories of the Bible to life. Our daughter and son-in-law were there once with two of our grandsons. And the kids, who are pretty up on their Bible stories, really enjoyed walking through those stories and meeting some of the characters (Well, actually, people portraying some of those characters.). The one that impressed our then two-year-old grandson the most was Jesus. A man portraying Jesus stood in the middle of that small crowd and He spoke some of the very stories He told in the Bible. But then came the moment our little guy will not soon forget. Jesus came over and picked Him up, just like Jesus did with the children when He was here. The next day Mom and our little guy were talking about his upcoming third birthday party, and suddenly out of the blue, he said, "I want Jesus at my birthday party." 

Thursday, May 24, 2018

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There are lots of people who just love to play golf, and some charitable organizations have found a way to harness golf fever to help support their work. They have these benefit golf tournaments on behalf of their cause. In one major city where a friend of mine is in charitable work, they asked the local NFL quarterback to be the chairman of the golf tournament--well, actually, the honorary chairman. His name on the invitation and the letterhead--ooh, those were impressive, and it made the whole event feel more important. But don't be fooled. Mr. Quarterback had absolutely no say in how that day was organized. Did you get the word? He was the "honorary" chairman. That's a big title, but no real authority.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

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I was sitting on our front porch, and I saw our son-in-law suddenly running full speed across the front yard, headed for the back yard with his camera in his hand. With my incredible detective mind, I surmised that he had seen something that would make a great photo; something that apparently wasn't going to be there for long. Actually, he had seen our horse running across the pasture with her mane flowing and beautifully illuminated by the setting sun. Well, having a wife who's taken some pretty amazing photos over the years, I understood this. I guess you'd call it the "seize the moment" thing. Photographers know about this, and you'd better not get in their way.

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

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Some people really have the gift of sleeping. One of our young friends, Michael, he stayed with us for several months. Oh, does he have the gift of sleeping, but not the gift of waking up. No. It actually became my job to wake him up every morning to get to work. Did somebody say, "Mission Impossible"? It seemed like no matter what I tried, I could not get him to wake up-and if I could, I couldn't get him to stay awake. No alarm clock we tried could do the job, no calling his name, no calling him very loudly, no shaking him. Somehow he always managed to stay asleep or go back to sleep...well, until the pan. Yeah, one morning I marched upstairs, into his room, and right over his head, I banged a metal pan with a metal spoon with everything I had. Yeah! I mean, the neighbor down the street woke up! Michael woke up, got up and stayed up! 

Monday, May 21, 2018

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It was a day of national mourning; an unusual outpouring of emotion and affection for the man who had died. The final farewell to former President Ronald Reagan began with official funeral observances in the nation's Capitol. There were these long, all-night lines of everyday Americans paying their respects at his coffin in the Capitol Rotunda, the highest officials of the land paying tribute to the former President, the memorial service in the National Cathedral, and then that final journey on Air Force One to a family service at his ranch in California. One of the more moving moments of a day with many such moments was when Air Force jets flew over in what is known as the "missing man maneuver." Clusters of jets flew overhead, with one jet in the final cluster suddenly peeling up, away, and out of sight. That's symbol says a lot. 

Friday, May 18, 2018

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I think some of our best family memories are from our camping vacations. See, we got real close - I mean, literally - sleeping together in our little tent. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, great outdoor-cooked meals, a peaceful environment, and living by the sun. Of course, there are a few downsides - like those very dark nights in very dark campgrounds.

I can remember our boys' ambivalence to walk to the bathroom on nights like those. They had the need to use the facilities and that was undeniable, but the dark path and the dark woods...well, they were scary, especially knowing there were bears in those woods. But one thing would un-paralyze them - when they reached up in the dark and found my hand. Once they were holding their father's hand, you know what? They could keep walking into the darkness.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

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Several years ago on an Indian reservation, a friend there told us about an elderly neighbor of hers who had taken an unusual pet into her house. It was a half wolf and half dog. Half wild and half domesticated, and as it turned out, big trouble. One morning that wolf dog picked up the lady's granddaughter and began to carry her away. The grandmother saw it, and she screamed at the top of her lungs. The animal stopped and froze in this moment of evident struggle between his wild side and his tame side. The wolf dog looked straight at this screaming lady, totally unafraid; his wild side wasn't scared at all. His wild side wanted that child. But then in one dramatic moment, the animal dropped the child and let her go. The tame side finally won, but there were still a lot of scars.