Tuesday, May 23, 2017

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I'm not sure if it's harder for a baby to have major surgery or adults like us. At least the baby has no idea of what's going on – which might make it easier. We know too much. We worry a lot. Little Jamie? He was not even a year old, but he had to undergo heart surgery; which I associate kind of with older people. Jamie was the nephew of one of our team members, and she was from Australia. The miles made it pretty tough on her, so we all joined her in praying for this little guy so far away. And thankfully, Jamie came through with flying colors. His heart was fixed. It was a tough operation, but it had to be done. You see, Jamie, they said, had a hole in his heart, and you can't just leave it that way!

Monday, May 15, 2017

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My son bought an old Mustang when he was in high school. No, not the kind with four legs. The kind with four wheels. He actually used money he got from selling some of his valuable baseball card collection. Some years later, he wanted to sell it and put the proceeds into the work he was going to be doing with Native Americans. He was home for a little while and that's where the Mustang was, so he put an ad in the paper about it. First day – no calls. Second day – no calls. He wasn't expecting a line at the door exactly, but he thought he'd get a little more response than that. Then he found out why the phone was silent. He checked the ad and found that the newspaper had goofed and published a phone number that was a wrong number. But what a difference that one little number made! When we dialed the number in the paper, there never was any answer. And since it takes a couple of days to change the error, the wrong number made more encore appearances in the newspaper. You gotta feel bad for some guy who's looking in the paper, sees a car he wants at a price he likes, and dials the magic number that cannot possibly reach the person who has what he's interested in.

Friday, May 12, 2017

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At first I thought some apocalyptic event had hit our town. Schools were all empty, wasn't a school bus in sight, lots of people suddenly disappeared. Not to worry. It was just Spring Break.

Of course, for many of America's young people, Spring Break is code for "party like there's no tomorrow, baby." Well, after downing lots of booze and sometimes drugs, your internal censors just go off duty. So a lot of folks come back from break with little memory of some big mistakes. Partying that lasts for a night; regrets and scars that can last a lifetime. Going for "break" and coming back broken.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

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Because we've spent so much time on Indian reservations over the years, the story I heard about one little Native American boy is especially meaningful to me. He lived with his Mom in a little hut on a reservation in the Southwest. His Dad had died, and that meant the boy had to take responsibility for their sheep at a pretty young age. One day a missionary passed through their village and he explained to the little boy how Jesus Christ died for him and wanted to be his Shepherd. And that day this little shepherd invited Jesus into his heart.

Friday, May 5, 2017

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If you don’t know how to swim, it’s not cool to let your friends know that, right? Well, let me tell you, it’s just not smart not to tell them, especially if you’re going into the lake with them to swim. The scene was Lake Michigan. This 10-year-old boy was me. I couldn’t swim and I was too proud to tell my friends. Suddenly, as I waded deeper and deeper, I lost my footing and I began drinking the lake. I can remember the terror of it to this day. My friends thought it was funny. They were just laughing and going, "Oh, look at Ronnie. He’s such a clown!" I was dying. I'd gone under for the second time, and man, how I remember! I was helpless. I could not contribute a thing to getting back to shore. Thankfully, someone saw me, jumped in and that rescuer did it all!

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

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It was my first Valentine's Day without the love of my life since I was 18. I found the Valentine card that I sent her a couple of years ago. In it, I wrote: "I have never loved you more. You never cease to amaze me, amuse me, and captivate me." As the sun came up on my first Valentine's Day alone, I realized I had a choice to make. I could either spend the day mourning what I had lost, or I could celebrate the decades I did have with this remarkable woman, and I chose that. I'm glad I did.

Monday, April 24, 2017

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We met Dan and Rita and their dog when we took our Native American team to a reservation in South Dakota. They live in this dusty little village, doing their best to make a difference for the people there. They've got this little dog named Gal. Now most dogs are pretty aggressive in meeting strangers-they come right up to you, even on you. But not Gal. No, she retreats when she sees people. She cowers actually; she trembles. Dan and Rita explained why. Their dog had been severely abused by several previous owners before they got her. So she has a hard time trusting even people who want to treat her right, but she's missing a lot of loving that way.

Friday, April 21, 2017

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One football team owner called it "the single most impressive symbol of being a champion in all of sports." Yep, he was talking about the National Football League's Super Bowl ring. The rings on Super Bowl champions are worth many thousands of dollars each one! Can you imagine losing something that valuable, that irreplaceable? Former Oakland Raiders champion, Gene Upshaw, can remember that. Yeah, he can imagine it. To keep his Super Bowl ring safe at home, he put it inside a bank that looked like a Pepsi can. Problem: he forgot to tell his housekeepers. You know where this is going? Yep, they mistook the bank for an empty pop can and tossed it out, ring and all.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

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There are few words that strike more fear into hearts in Middle America than the word "tornado". I grew up there, I know. I mean, twisters can hit so suddenly and they do horrific damage. That was proven again when some deadly tornadoes tore through Oklahoma back in 1999. In fact, one of those was so strong it was almost classified as an F6, which would have created a whole new category of tornado. In light of the power of those storms, the story I saw on the evening news was pretty amazing. After hearing one of those tornado warnings for the tornadoes in Oklahoma that day, a mother and her adult daughter went into a room in their house for safety. It's called a safe room or a strong room, and it's built with concrete that's reinforced with metal. And it's built to withstand even a hit by a tornado. Well, sure enough, the tornado hit that house and there was basically nothing left except for one room - the safe room. And when it was all clear, the mother and daughter walked out unscathed in a neighborhood where virtually everything else had been blown away.

Friday, April 14, 2017

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My friend, Alan, was working with a carpenter friend of his on a building project. Out of the blue, Alan sprang this rather unusual question on the carpenter, "Do you know what the most powerful nails in the world are?" The craftsman paused on his ladder for a moment and then he said, "I don't know. US Steel?" Alan said, "No. The strongest nails in the world are the three nails that held Jesus Christ on His cross." Well, then Alan just walked into the other room. A few minutes later, the carpenter called for Alan. He said, "Man, you've got to help me. Every time I drive a nail now, it's like I'm nailing Jesus to the cross." My friend said, "Well, in a way, we did."