Your Relationships

Driving Better When You're Being Watched - #5713

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

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I will long remember some of the most thrill-packed times of my life when I was teaching our oldest son to drive. Actually, there was a strange by-product of his learning to drive - my driving improved! Over the years, you know, you get a little careless about the right way to drive, especially when you're living in the metropolitan New York area where stunt driving is like a survival skill! But knowing that my son was learning to drive, I suddenly became conscious of this pair of eyes watching me from the back seat - an impressionable teenage boy watching how his Dad holds the wheel, keeps the speed limit, changes lanes, and approaches cars from the rear. Those eyes had an effect. I ended up driving more as I'm, well, supposed to drive.

Ultimate Security - #5690

Friday, October 31, 2008

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A local businessman was in to share with our Ministry Team a while back, and he made a fascinating observation about his family. He's got three children; two are all grown up and in their late 20s. His youngest is just a nine year old girl. He assured us that she wasn't a "mistake." In fact, she was their choice. And he pointed out something the authorities made very clear at the time the adoption went through. There could come a time when he had a major falling out with one of his natural-born children - a time when he could conceivably, as a father, disown that child; even put him out of the will. But not so with this girl he was adopting. He was legally committed to never disown her, to never put her out of his will, and to always take care of her. They said, in essence, "When you adopt a child, she is your child forever."

Walking too Fast to Talk - #5674

Thursday, October 9, 2008

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I always enjoyed walking the beautiful three-mile walk around the local lake we used to live near. And my wife enjoyed it too. Walking together is good. It not only improves your physical condition, but it gives you a chance to talk. Well, theoretically. The problem is I'm into covering that ground as fast as possible. That's maximum aerobic effect, calorie burn. You know. But when my wife and I would chug up and down our local hills at my hyper pace, she had a question: "Weren't we going to talk?" "Sure." Then comes her all too legitimate complaint: "You're walking too fast to talk." It's not just about when we're on a hike. And I don't think I'm alone.

Your Final Answer - #5661

Monday, September 22, 2008

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A few years ago, an old TV format got resurrected and came back big time! It was the old quiz millions of dollars - "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Some Joe or Joan Ordinaryperson was show! The program that first captured the attention of millions of viewers was about winning asked a series of multiple-choice questions that got increasingly harder and were worth increasingly more. Now, if you needed help on a couple, you could call some person you've designated as your "lifeline." You could even listen to the opinions of the studio audience. But eventually, the spotlight was just on you, the contestant, and the host who was pressing the question. And when you finally gave your answer, the host asked that tension-building, unnerving question, "Is that your final answer?"

Beyond Yesterday - #5652

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

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The plane bound for Newark Airport was full. Now all those passengers are waiting for their suitcase to arrive on the baggage carousel along with passengers from a couple of other flights. And to think people pay to go to the zoo! There are times when that crowd of people gets pretty big and we're all crammed together in an area that can get pretty wall-to-wall. Recently the claustrophobia got worse than ever, they have put up a wall that reduces the already limited space. You could get pretty steamed about it if you didn't realize that wall was there to cover up some construction that's in progress. See, they are improving and enlarging that whole area! Now how do they make us feel good about this crunch in the meantime? They put up a sign on that construction wall and it seemed to do the job. I didn't forget it and it said this, "Thanks for your patience. We are getting rid of yesterday so we can get ready for tomorrow."

Unforgettable You - #5650

Friday, September 5, 2008

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Some of our great moments as a family have been spent watching those old videos of us (we thankfully converted them to DVDs now). But they are at a time when we were all a lot younger. For a while, our firstborn had the camera all to herself. Then we added a co-star - her brother. And then along came another subject for the lens - a baby brother! And, of course, some of the most camera-worthy moments are when your baby or toddler is winning some of their first victories, doing some of those things that are irresistibly cute. You know? So often the camera was focused on our daughter's little brothers. So you'll be watching one of them doing some adorable thing when suddenly this five-year-old jumps into the picture, waving and smiling right into the camera. It's almost as if our daughter was saying, "Hey, remember me? I'm over here! Don't forget me!"

The Measurement Mess - #5645

Friday, August 29, 2008

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NASA had high hopes for their first Mars orbiter - it would make possible some exciting new research into the Red Planet. They were stunned when suddenly, without warning, they lost the Mars orbiter in deep space. After the initial shock, NASA tried to determine what went wrong. The answer was almost as alarming as losing the orbiter itself. The fatal malfunction turns out it was the result of a tragic error in calculations - bad math doomed the Mars craft. One set of engineers had worked with English measurements, while another set of engineers did their calculations by the metric system!

What You Bring in the Door - #5644

Thursday, August 28, 2008

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When our three kids were young, they'd run to the door to greet me when I was returning from an international trip. Isn't that tender! Yeah, but you need to know part of the reason for this enthusiastic greeting. You see, when I'm away from my family, I am a sucker for souvenirs. The one way I can be with them is by shopping for something for them, whether it's in Singapore, or Holland, or Australia. So there was a certain expectancy when old dad walked through the door. Oh, yes, there would be hugs and kisses, and we had missed each other, but the three kids each knew that those suitcases had things in them that weren't in them when I left. It's nice to come home with gifts for everyone.

The View From Down Below - #5634

Thursday, August 14, 2008

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When our Native American outreach team went to Alaska, our only means of getting to remote Eskimo villages was by missionary aircraft. Oh, man, our pilots were the best! Many days we had to fly through low cloud ceilings and low visibility. On a day like that, our pilots were checking every hour on the weather at our end and at our destination. There was finally a break where we could fly, but it all looked pretty dismal when we took off. The pilot of the plane I was in was instrument-rated, which enabled him to go to a higher altitude. The pilot of the plane accompanying us wasn't able to take the high road. So, my pilot kept in radio contact with the other pilot, but believe me, our planeload and the other planeload were seeing two totally different views. From where the other plane was flying, it was dark, it was dismal, and it was very overcast. But we were above all that. We were enjoying a beautiful, sunny day with all those clouds beneath us.

The Beauty of the Band - #5604

Thursday, July 3, 2008

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I had spoken in a church that has two morning services, and I went into that little room off the sanctuary where you meet to pray with the church leaders. But the people who were there when I went in weren't praying, they were playing - their trombones, that is. Actually, they were warming up to play in the brass section of the church's worship band. Now, there were some very interesting sounds coming from that room, in fact. I was almost afraid to go in, but I did. And I got involved in a conversation with the men behind the music. One of them had just made a minor goof in what he was practicing. Of course, how would I know - Mr. Music Dork? But that led to George telling me why he would much rather play with a band than play a solo. He said, "You know, it's so much easier when the band is there to support you." When I asked him what he meant by "support you," he said, "Well, the rest of the band sort of carries you along, and they cover up your mistakes!"

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