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Friday, June 8, 2018
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"Daddy, will you play with me?" I can still hear those echoes from when our kids were little. And I can still remember how preoccupied I was a lot of times when they asked that. So I can relate to the man who was reading his Sunday newspaper - you know, one of the big ones that comes in volumes. His little guy kept tapping on the newspaper and asking his Daddy to play with him. Dad kept giving him little things to do to keep him occupied. Finally, he tried another way to be able to finish his paper. He actually tore out a page that had a map of the world on it and he ripped it into pieces. He said, "Scotty, why don't you put this puzzle together. As soon as you've got it finished, I promise I'll come and play." Two minutes later, Scotty was tapping on Dad's newspaper again. "I'm finished," he said. And there it was, the whole map of the world together on the floor. Dad said, "Son, how did you ever put that together so fast?" His little guy replied: "It was easy, Daddy. There was a picture of a man on the other side. If you put the man together right, the world goes together just fine!"
Thursday, June 7, 2018
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I had the TV on while I was getting ready to go somewhere, and I caught a snatch of a TV talk show. The host was interviewing a former FBI agent - a man who had successfully infiltrated the Mafia and had been responsible for some major indictments. Now, in his underground life, he was, as you might expect, surrounded by cocaine. The talk show host asked the FBI man, "Did you ever have to use cocaine to maintain your cover?" Good question. Well, after all, his life depended on his fitting in. But he answered that question with a firm "No". The host said, "How did you avoid having to use cocaine?" I liked his answer. In fact, it might even help you where you're feeling the pressure to fit in.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
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My life was profoundly affected by the example of five American missionaries who died trying to get the Gospel to a Stone Age tribe in Ecuador who had never heard the name of Jesus. They were actually murdered by the tribe that was then known as the Aucas. We now know them as the Waoranis. Amazingly, the wife of one of those missionaries and the sister of another actually went to the tribe that had killed their loved ones to tell them about Jesus. Today, some of the murderers of the missionaries are pastors of the Waorani church. It's an amazing story.
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
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Well, I used to be concerned just about me or someone I love picking up a virus. Now I've got to be worried about my computer picking up a virus! And more and more of them are infecting various computer systems. We hear about it on the news a lot. Now, if one of those viruses contaminates your computer, of course it could cause you to lose valuable data. It can even cause your computer to crash. But, thankfully, I have this special software feature that's called a virus scan. You probably do too. When I turn on my computer, basically the virus scan checks to see if any of those destructive little critters have gotten in, and it warns me if they have. And that's a good thing, because you want to get that virus before it infects everything. Right?
Monday, June 4, 2018
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Okay, the plan was flawless. They told me that Cadillac Mountain was the first place you could see the sunrise in the United States. And my job, of course, was to provide wonderful memories and special experiences for my children. We were vacationing in Maine, and I was determined to let them have this thrill. Somehow, they didn't seem as excited about it as I was; must have been a maturity thing I guess. Well, why wasn't my wife excited then? Anyway, I carefully checked the weather forecast every day until I was sure we would have a clear morning to see the sunrise. I made everyone go to sleep early. I woke everybody up at 3:00 A. M. We were in a campground and I was afraid the kids would wake up complaining and waking up the neighbors, so I had a doughnut ready to stuff into each little mouth-including mine. I bundled everyone into the car and up we drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain. I kept checking my watch, waiting for that magic moment of the scheduled sunrise, and the moment came. No sun. We waited and we waited. Surprise! The weatherman was wrong. We saw a distinctly unmemorable cloudrise.
Friday, June 1, 2018
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Over the years, my wife missed some memorable photographs because of me. Well, frankly because I was in too much of a hurry to stop. I'll tell you what, what a gift as a photographer this lady had! What an eye for what was going to turn out to be a memorable picture. So, we'd be speeding along. She'd see one of those potential pictures and ask me to stop. Okay, here comes my all-too-frequent answer: "We'll stop later." OK, I'm a guy. Well, somehow the same picture isn't there a few minutes later. I remember this one scene; we saw this cabin in a field and it was haloed with this beautiful rainbow. That scene just wasn't there a few minutes later. It's amazing how there's this brief window during which you can capture the scene and, well, then it's gone.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
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Some longtime friends dropped by for a visit and they told us a moving story of what had happened to their son. Tom had been a missionary pilot in Mexico - one of those spiritual heroes, I think, who take the Gospel and God's help to places where it could otherwise never go, including a mountain village in Mexico where the pilots have been God's instruments to launch a mighty work for Christ. And then came the crash. With three missionary pilots and several passengers aboard, a defect in their plane's almost new engine caused a terrible crash. Tom was one of those who survived that crash that could very well have killed everyone. The villagers who loved them actually traveled hours to reach them and rescue them. Tom's body was really badly shattered, and his recovery was long, grueling. But then he was flown back to the area where he ministered. His parents really choked up, and so did we, when they told us what happened as he got off the plane. There to greet him was a crowd of cheering Mexican friends. And they were holding a banner that simply said "Welcome home, Captain Tom!"
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!