Friday, October 25, 2002

June 4, 1944 was a beautiful, starlit night. The commanders of the Allied troops were gathered with General Dwight Eisenhower at Southwick House, their English command post. The issue was when to launch the D-Day invasion that could - and ultimately did - turn the tide of World War II. Colonel Page, the chief Army meteorologist, told them, in contradiction to the weather that they could see, that gale force winds and high tides would be assaulting the Normandy beaches by morning. Should General Eisenhower believe what he saw - or the man who had the whole picture? Ike said "no go" that night - even though his decision would cost the Allied forces the invasion window that was their first choice and it would prolong the wait for 180,000 troops, stuck on their ships, ready to move.

The next day was stormy as predicted. But this time, Colonel Page predicted improved weather the next day with moderate wind and tides and lifting haze. Again, General Eisenhower had to choose between what he could see and the authority he trusted. The general paused for nearly a minute and then he said, "Let's go." The room was clear in seconds. The rest is history.

Monday, October 21, 2002

For many months, our ministry team joined thousands of believers around the world in praying for the release of missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham. Philippine rebels had kidnapped them from a resort where they were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary and held them for ransom for more than a year. Well, when a Philippine army unit moved in to rescue the hostages, Martin Burnham was killed by a stray bullet and Mrs. Burnham was wounded. For both of them, a terrible ordeal ended in the jungle that night. Gracia went home to America, and Martin went home to heaven. At his memorial service, it was reported that the last thing the couple did before the raid was to pray together. Mr. Burnham told his wife, "We might not leave this jungle alive, but at least we can leave this world serving the Lord with gladness. We can serve Him right here, where we are, and with gladness." Wow!

Friday, October 18, 2002

We met Larry when we went to explore some land that my wife's great-grandfather had homesteaded more than a century ago. That land is now part of a much larger farm that Larry owns - a farm that has been suffering from four years of serious drought conditions. The land is dust, the grass is very brittle, and the corn has stopped growing at about two feet high. Like many farmers in the area, Larry has had to sell half his herd of cows because there will be nothing to feed them in the winter. I didn't know where Larry stood spiritually, but I asked him if we could pray with him, right there in his field, and he said, "Yes." After I finished praying, Larry said quietly, "We've been doing a lot of that lately."

Tuesday, October 15, 2002

There was something particularly memorable about Miss America 1995. Like all Miss Americas, Heather Whitestone was beautiful, poised, and talented. But unlike any Miss America before or since, Heather Whitestone was deaf. Not long ago, she was in the news again - and what she said was as impressive to me as anything she did as Miss America. Now Heather Whitestone McCallum, she had a cochlear implant surgically placed in her right hear. She decided to have the operation when her two-year-old son, John, fell in her back yard. Here's what she told reporters: "I couldn't hear him crying. I need to be the first one to hear him."

Friday, September 20, 2002

Our daughter has always been the most sentimental member of the family, sort of the "keeper of the family memories." A lot of those memories are associated with the two homes we lived in as our kids were growing up. Recently, our daughter had the opportunity to visit both of those houses, thanks to the hospitality of the people who live in them now. Our first home was really small - but, of course, not necessarily to our children. And since our daughter is our oldest, she has the most vivid memories of that house. It had a little porch on the front of it - which apparently didn't seem all that little to her at the time. When she returned from her visit, she said, "You know, that porch on Baywood sure looked a lot bigger to me then than it does now!"

Wednesday, September 18, 2002

My wife rang me on my cell phone with an urgent message to get back across town to our daughter and son-in-law's house. "They've got a fire!" she said. As I approached their house, I could see a grass fire burning in the field near their house and rapidly approaching their house. A neighbor's trash fire had suddenly gotten out of hand and had spread rapidly. The firefighters arrived just before I did and thankfully they quickly got it under control. We were really thankful that our kids had been home and had seen the fire or it might have even burned their house. They were told that the fire did not mean there would be a blackened field in front of their house - there would, in fact, be beautiful grass growing there pretty soon, rooted in soil that would actually be enhanced by the fire. And, sure enough, there's a rich field of green today.

Wednesday, September 11, 2002

"Leave It to Beaver" was a classic 1950s TV show. No, it was not about wildlife - it was about a suburban family with two kids, older brother Wally and a slightly off-beat son affectionately called "Beaver." Recently, a new "Beaver" series surfaced on cable TV. Someone told me about one new show where "Beaver" gets a new bicycle - and he loses a new bicycle. Big brother Wally asks "the Beave" what happened to his bike. Beaver tells him about this kid who asked if he could use his bike to show him some neat tricks. The problem was that, with every trick, the kid went a little farther with the bicycle. You can probably guess what trick he was going to do - he disappeared with the bicycle. Beaver says, "You know, He stole it a little bit at a time."

Thursday, September 5, 2002

It was very cold in our house. I was the first one awake that morning, and as I scampered through our personal Arctic I checked the thermometer. It said 50 degrees. I called Mr. Furnace to come. In the meantime, I turned on the kitchen stove, I opened the door, and I sat in front of it to have some personal spiritual time. My kids told me that with my eyes closed it looked like I was praying to the stove! Well, Mr. Furnace came and finally figured it out. See, the problem was the thermostat, not the thermometer - that just reflected the temperature. It was the thermostat, which, of course, controls the temperature!

Wednesday, September 4, 2002

Our son-in-law loves to ski, even though he doesn't get to do it all that often. And like everything else he does athletically, he really goes for it when he skis. But his last time on the slopes was different from all the other times in his life. See, for the first time, he has a son! And his little baby boy was on his mind when he was on the slopes. When we asked about his ski adventure, I got the distinct feeling that he didn't take the risks he's taken before. Actually, here's the way he put it. Moving his arms in skiing form as he said, "I just kept saying, 'I'm a Daddy. I'm a Daddy. I'm a Daddy.'"

Tuesday, September 3, 2002

It's amazing how creative parents can become when it's time to explain the facts of life to a child, especially in the vocabulary they choose. A parent says to their child, "This is your chin. This is your neck. That's your stomach. That's your - oogieboogiewagaboogie!" I've really heard some pretty funny names for human anatomy - words invented by red-faced parents, but not recognized by any doctor on earth. Of course, they're better than a lot of the words our children come home from school asking about. But when it comes to sex, it's important to use the right words - especially one.