A man from the big city was driving through the country one day when a billy goat jumped into the road and collided with his car. He had never seen a Billy goat before, so he turned into the parking lot of a country store and ran inside. “I just ran over something and I don’t know what it is,” he frantically explained to a group of old fellows gathered around a potbellied stove.
Uncle Sam is trying to decide if he believes in UFOs — Unidentified Flying Objects. They’re even talking about them in Congress, where some of its members are sounding more and more like aliens as each year passes. All I know about UFOs I learned as a reporter for newspapers in north Georgia. I’ve talked to several sane people who said they spied things in the sky that didn’t belong there.
Each one of us had lugged two 50-pound suitcases to the check-in counter. One held personal items, the other was full of medical or dental supplies. We also had carry-ons and backpacks. We had a plan and a mission: we were headed to Nairobi, Kenya for a medical and dental clinic with World Hope.
My grandchildren are notorious for using the “pause” button on the TV remote. They LOVE to pause their shows while getting a snack, taking a bathroom break, or just deciding to leave and go play. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked into the den and found our TV is paused in the middle of a show.
A gregarious Seymour Wattenbarger made a lot of people laugh during his 84 years. The gospel preacher used humor in his ministry. He began almost every sermon with a funny story that grabbed everyone’s attention. When Seymour went to heaven a couple weeks ago, I couldn’t help but notice that the man who had made so many people laugh over the years was now making them cry.
“At exit 15, turn left. Go eight miles and turn right. In two miles, turn left and go six more miles.” We had exact directions. It sounded like a treasure map. Indeed, it was. After an hour and 40 minutes, we arrived at our destination: Bethel.
I love new school supplies. I loved them when I was a child and I loved getting them for my children every year when school started. There was just something about having new supplies when you start a new year, a fresh start. I always looked forward to purchasing their school supplies and honestly, I think they enjoyed it just as much as I did.
My mom used to say her “quiver was full,” (Psalm 127:4-5). We would smile because we knew what she meant. She was saying that her heart was full of joy. Her family was together, and the moments were just right. Treasured. I got that same “quiver full” feeling last night — the first night of Vacation Bible School.
I have to admit that I am a “people pleaser.” I don’t necessarily think that is a bad thing because it does say that you care about others and desire to make them happy. However, there is a huge pitfall in people-pleasing – you cannot please everyone!
The story is told of an out-of-work country boy who had applied for an open position down at the factory. “So why do you want this job?” the interviewer asked. “Well,” the country boy answered, “I’ve always felt passionately about not starving to death.”
Life is filled with risks. Perhaps you enjoy skydiving, climbing Mount Everest, or swimming with sharks? Each endeavor involves serious risks. Nothing would be accomplished on this planet without people willing to venture out into the unknown. Space exploration, and medical and educational advances would be stymied without an innate spirit to try new things and to boldly go where no man has gone before. That’s right ,Star Trek would never have existed without the imagination of Gene Roddenberry.
Some of my favorite memories were birthed on the shores of the Chattahoochee River in north Georgia. Now they’re old, like me, but still active, at least on occasions. I learned how to swim in the Chattahoochee. We were walking along the river, my Uncle Jamie and I, when he asked, “Philip, do you know how to swim?”
Perhaps you've heard about the city slicker who bought a cattle ranch out West. Friends who came for a visit asked the name of his spread. “I wanted to call it the Bar-J,” the city slicker said. “My wife favored the Suzy-Q. My daughter liked the Flying-W and my son preferred Lazy-Y. So, we’re calling it the Bar-J-Suzy-Q-Flying-W-Lazy-Y Ranch.”
An unfortunate mix-up put an embarrassing blemish on the 54th annual Fourth of July Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta, the world’s largest 10K. In the women’s elite division, defending champion Senbere Teferi led much of the race, but on the final approach to the finish line, sprinting behind three police motorcycle escorts, Teferi followed a policeman who, unexplainably, turned onto a side street.
The clanging alerted me that there was a problem. Some sounds are not ever supposed to come out of the dryer. I hurried to the laundry room. Yanking open the dryer door, I began pulling out my beloved’s dress pants and shirts. The load was his good stuff for church. In the still damp pile, I found a small black lid. And then something much worse: dark greasy stains on all of the clothes. “Aww man,” I groaned loudly.
Several weeks ago, our family went on vacation to the beach. We rented a house and in that house we had five adults and seven grandchildren. It’s always quite the adventure when you have that many personalities and age differences in the same house. It is precious time that Wayne and I enjoy greatly and our prayer is that our children and grandchildren will have memories of these times long after we are gone.
I heard a Christian comedian the other day talking about some of the places he has performed recently — churches, senior citizen centers, even a nursing home. “The nursing home had a great crowd,” he said. ““By the time I was done, there wasn’t a dry seat in the house.”
My co-worker Michelle gave her heart to Jesus when she was 14 years old. Over the years, she has served at her church in many ways: children’s church, Sunday School, VBS, and wherever needed.
Snoopy, the Peanuts cartoon’s favorite beagle, was agonizing over losing his doghouse to the new freeway coming through. In one panel, Lucy unloads, “All right, so they run a freeway through here and you lose your doghouse. You think you’re the first one who’s ever lost his home? You think you’re the only one? Huh? Stop feeling sorry for yourself!”
Let's begin at the end. I am writing this on the plane. We are boarded and ready to back away from Gate 5 in Nairobi, Kenya. The captain has just finished making the traditional announcements in both German and English. The flight attendants have shown the obligatory video regarding every emergency imaginable. We are heading home.
Just as we arrived home from vacation last week, we had a horrible, unexpected storm. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Wayne and I both have the weather app on our phones but there was no warning or alert for this storm. When I say it was bad, it was very bad. The wind was blowing so hard at one point we thought it might snap the tree in our front yard. The poor thing was bent all the way over from the force of the wind.
“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19, ESV The calling given by Jesus to brothers Peter and Andrew as they were fishing in the Galilean waters was life-changing. Jesus then walking further up the shore called two other brothers, James and John, to follow Him as well. Both sets of brothers immediately dropped their nets and followed Him, leaving their old lives behind.
One of the perils of life is putting too much value on “stuff.” Stuff can be about anything. It can consist of what we have or what we don’t have. Much of life is about our stuff. Our house, cars, things in the house. Things around the house and things in the garage, storage building, barns and more barns. If we work hard, it’s possible to accumulate lots of stuff. Often, we have more than we need.
It’s hard to believe that 45 years ago today a 19-year-old girl walked down the aisle to marry a 20-year-old guy. The love story of a high school basketball player and a cheerleader. It just doesn’t seem possible to me. I mean, I can’t be that old, right?
“Do you know you have sleep apnea?” the woman at the doctor’s office asked by phone. “No, I didn’t know that,” I said. “Do you have headaches in the morning?” “Not really,” I said. “Do you lack energy in the morning?” “No, I feel pretty good most mornings.”