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Monday, June 24, 2013

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You know, people in certain jobs end up being treated kind of like vending machines it seems like. Now, the state that I lived in for many years, we still had full service gas and we had gas station attendants. People just sort of drive up and grunt a couple of words to him, and then he would dispense his service, and people would drive off. Oh, of course, we did give him a little money. Waitresses—there's another one. And the checkout people at a grocery store. Well, you know what? I've got a little personal crusade to help these service people feel human again; to get them to talk. Now brace yourself...even to get them to smile sometimes. I feel like I've succeeded if they'll smile.

Friday, June 21, 2013

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One of the great chapters in the history of the modern church has been the Billy Graham crusades, reaching millions of people around the world. We were preparing for one in our area, and it was amazing to watch the Billy Graham Crusade Team move in to help us organize what was an unprecedented effort. One of our first jobs was a pretty practical one. The setup team needed housing for the year. A lot of people had ideas of what kind of places the team members should live in, but the Crusade Team, they had experience. They knew what it took to come in for a year.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

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The other night I saw one of the most adorable scenes I've seen in ages. I was coming out of a restaurant, and right ahead of me was a mother and a father. In between them was their little girl who was obviously a rookie at walking. She was just learning, and she had both hands extended upward. Mom had one hand and Dad had the other. She was dressed in this pretty little pink dress. She also had this cute, frilly little pink cap on. You can kind of picture it.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

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I happened to be there when my friend, Rick, tried a Jet Ski for the first time. Now, you may have seen those little water machines that look kind of like a baby snowmobile, and they're a lot of fun. But it takes some skill to stay balanced on them as they start to take off across the water. Rick actually handled it pretty well for a while; he's a good water skier, and that didn't surprise me. But it was inevitable that he would eventually fall off. I expected that when he hit the water, that Jet Ski was going to take right off without him across the water. I wondered how he'd ever get back! It didn't happen. That Jet Ski is designed to start going in a circle near you, and it did, and it circles until you can get back on. Well, that's exactly what you need when you fall off.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

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God blessed the Hutchcraft home with three very unique children. Anybody who knows them, nod your head now. Good...okay. I realize that's three more than a number of families, some of whom would love to just have one child. We've had some friends tell us, "Ron, we've been trying to have children for three years," or five years, or ten years. And today doctors do all they can to increase those possibilities. They'll suggest times of the month when the baby would be most likely be conceived; sometimes they'll give you fertility drugs. And many a childless couple does all that they can to conceive a new life, and the way that they do that is just to create the conditions in which the miracle could happen. And even though they can't make it happen, they can at least prepare for the life to begin.

Friday, June 14, 2013

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It was Father's Day, and my friend Dave and I were making the most of it. We had our two families together for a picnic. He's a father too, and we expressed our needs shall we say, we let everybody know what we needed and wanted. And every once in a while somebody even paid attention. Well, we were all gathered around the picnic table and we were explaining to everyone why it was a day of special privilege for Dave and me. And I said, "Hey, it's Father's Day! That's why we're planning everything." I'll never forget what Dave's son said. He said, "Hey, at our house every day is Father's Day." Well, in a sense - probably a different sense than our teenage friend had in mind - it is very much that way in many things.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

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I guess I'm just too sensitive. I feel guilty when I walk in a store, knowing I'm not going to buy anything. And some bored salesperson sees me come in, and then you see that look of hope, that look of expectancy on their face, "At last I can justify my existence. At last I've got a customer! At last I can accomplish something. At last I can sell something." And so they very pleasantly ask, "May I help you?" And then come those two most hated words to the ears of a salesperson, "Just looking." Suddenly they lose all interest in me and they retire dejectedly back to their corner. Did I say I'm too sensitive? Well, I'll tell you this, nobody ever gets very excited about someone who is just looking.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

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I'm seldom home for lunch. But one day, my travels had me at the right place at the right time. Unfortunately, that one visit wouldn't encourage me to do it a lot more times. I had an early breakfast that morning, and I usually do get a good head start on things, and so by the time I finally got around to lunch, I was really hungry. I came in ready for a major lunch. Well, we grilled a hot dog in the toaster oven. That was a good start, and then my wife went to cook some more things on the stove for me. Would you believe that the stove decided not to work at that point? And she said, "Wait a minute! Nothing's heating up." I said, "Well, that's okay. I know there are some chips here. I'll just load up on potato chips." So, I went to get the chips out of the cabinet. What chips? My son had fed them to his friends. So, I enjoyed my lonesome hot dog very slowly. I ate everything I was served. I was still hungry.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

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It's almost become a gag line; it expresses the attitude of an employee who just wants to meet the bare minimums of their job. You ask them a question, ask them to do some small task; kind of shrugs his shoulders, puts his hands in the air and says, "Not my job!" Well, that can be a lazy response or maybe a wise one in some cases. For example, if you ask me to repair your car, I probably should say, "It's not my job." Or if you ask the local mechanic to take care of your toothache, it would be good if he said, "It's not my job." Or if you ask your dentist to program your computer, it would probably be good for him to say, "It's not my job." See, you really shouldn't be working out of what really isn't your job and you don't know how to do.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

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I remember the time that my son got in real late. And I remember because that really wasn't his usual style. And, of course, I was waiting calmly and patiently for him to get home and, you know, waiting to hear his explanation; except for the hand cuffs and the bright light that I greeted him with. Now, he had good reasons. There were car problems, and there were people who really did have to be dropped off before he was, and, oh yeah, they got lost. It all checked out, but I was still an unhappy father for one important thing that he missed. Can you guess what it is? Uh-huh, "You didn't call!" Every parent knows, and most teenagers learn that you're making a big mistake when you don't call home.

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