Honor

Once there was a little old man. His eyes blinked and his hands trembled; when he ate he clattered the silverware distressingly, missed his mouth with the spoon as often as not, and dribbled a bit of his food on the tablecloth. Now he lived with his married son, having nowhere else to live, and his son's wife didn't like the arrangement.

"I can't have this," she said. "It interferes with my right to happiness." So she and her husband took the old man gently but firmly by the arm and led him to the corner of the kitchen. There they set him on a stool and gave him his food in an earthenware bowl. From then on he always ate in the corner, blinking at the table with wistful eyes.

One day his hands trembled rather more than usual, and the earthenware bowl fell and broke.
"If you are a pig," said the daughter-in-law, "you must eat out of a trough." So they made him a little wooden trough and he got his meals in that.

These people had a four-year-old son of whom they were very fond. One evening the young man noticed his boy playing intently with some bits of wood and asked what he was doing.
"I'm making a trough," he said, smiling up for approval, "to feed you and Mamma out of when I get big."

The man and his wife looked at each other for a while and didn't say anything. Then they cried a little. They then went to the corner and took the old man by the arm and led him back to the table. They sat him in a comfortable chair and gave him his food on a plate, and from then on nobody ever scolded when he clattered or spilled or broke things.


Show me the man you honor and I will know what kind of man you are.
Thomas Carlyle.

Wisdom of a Child!

The child was a typical four-year-old girl -- cute, inquisitive, bright as a new penny. When she expressed difficulty in grasping the concept of marriage, her father decided to pull out his wedding photo album, thinking visual images would help.

One page after another, he pointed out the bride arriving at the church, the entrance, the wedding ceremony, the recessional, the reception, etc. "Now do you understand?" he asked. "I think so," she said, "is that when mommy came to work for us?"

How Sweet!!

A nurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little ones' chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts first.

The eyes would always light up with awe. But she never got a response to equal 4-year-old David's. Gently she tucked the stethoscope in his ears and placed the disc over his heart.

"Listen," she said, "What do you suppose that is?" David drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap-tap-tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin, "Is that Jesus knocking?" he asked.

This Made Me Laugh!

An elderly woman walked into the local country church. The friendly usher greeted her at the door and helped her up the flight of steps.

"Where would you like to sit?" he asked politely. "The front row please." She answered. "You really don't want to do that," the usher said. "the pastor is really boring."

"Do you happen to know who I am?" the woman inquired. "No." he said. "I'm the pastor's mother," she replied indignantly.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked. "No." she said. "Good," he answered.

It's Changing Me!

This week I was mediatating on the ministry I am involved in with incarcerated boys. It can be tiring and frustrating, because we don't always see the results we hope to see, we actually see more fail than succeed.

So I was thinking to myself, is this really what the Lord wants me to do. So I began to ask Him, "Lord, we don't see many boys changing their lives, most go back to what is familiar. Is it worth it? Is this what you want us to do or is there something else we should be doing?"

Immediately I felt Him speak to me ever so quietly and He said, "It may not change any of them, but it is changing you." I was awestruck as I reflected then on my life and Chuck's. Yes, the ministry to these boys has truly changed us.

We are more loving, more serving, more compassionate. The more I reflected, the more I could see, Christ didn't go to the cross because everyone was going to come to Him, although that was His heart's desire. But this ministry more than anything else is shaping me into being more like Christ. So I have my answer, I am where I am supposed to be and I am content.

How Do You View Sin?

Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at the Milton H. Berry Institute in Los Angeles, a hospital that specialized in rehabilitating polio victims and people with broken backs and other extreme physical handicaps. Of course, Rogers had everybody laughing, even patients in really bad condition; but then he suddenly left the platform and went to the rest room. Milton Berry followed him to give him a towel; and when he opened the door, he saw Will Rogers leaning against the wall, sobbing like a child. He closed the door, and in a few minutes, Rogers appeared back on the platform, as jovial as before.

If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests of character that are especially appropriate for Christian leaders. I hear people saying, "We need angry leaders today!" or "The time has come to practice militant Christianity!" Perhaps, but "the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20).

What we need today is not anger but anguish, the kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain to intercede for his people, or that Jesus displayed when He cleansed the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and anguish is a broken heart. It's easy to get angry, especially at somebody else's sins; but it's not easy to look at sin, our own included, and weep over it.

LOVE

In the evening of life, we shall be judged on love, and not one of us is going to come off very well, and were it not for my absolute faith in the loving forgiveness of my Lord, I could not call him to come.
Madeleine L'Engle

I was reading today and came across this quote and it really hit me. The truth of the matter is not one of us loves like He loves. He is unconditional. I try to love that way, but always fall short. I get weary in well doing. I forget to pray for others. I am not willing to do the things I know I should do at times. I am not always lovable. I don't always put others before me. I have alot of things to work on. Perhaps that is why I came across this quote today.

He Can See Us!

One night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, "Jump! I'll catch you." He knew the boy had to jump to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flame, smoke, and blackness. As can be imagined, he was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: "Jump! I will catch you." But the boy protested, "Daddy, I can't see you." The father replied, "But I can see you and that's all that matters."

I love this story, it is a perfect illustration of how the Father sees us, although we can't see Him and He catches us when we fall.

Vacation is Over!

We are back from South Padre as some of you already know! We had a wonderful time. I must say I just stopped and enjoyed God's creation. I sat under the umbrella on the beach and just admired the ocean for hours, then we would walk sometimes four or five miles up the beach to the jetty and back. I swam for hours on end, in the ocean and in the pool.

The drive is about twelve hours away, but it didn't seem like it. We took our bibles and are doing a study by Steve Collins, called Christian Discipleship. It has been a wonderful study. I started it with the boys who are coming to live with us in September. The purpose was to disciple them, but to really give them a foundation and have them examine their salvation experience by God's Word, then showing them how to share their faith and make disciples.

I must say I have been refreshed and blessed. It's good to be home, my mother is very sick with blood clots in her leg. If you would send up a prayer for her. God has sustained her and kept her in the palm of His hand. I am so glad I know Him. Hugs and God Bless!

SPEED TRAP

On the side of the highway waiting to catch speeding drivers, a State Trooper sees a car puttering along at 22 m.p.h. He thinks to himself, "This driver is just as dangerous as a speeder!" So he turns on his lights and pulls the driver over.

Approaching the car, he notices that there are five old ladies -- two in the front seat and three in the back, wide eyed and white as ghosts. The driver, obviously confused, says to him, "Officer, I don't understand, I was doing exactly the speed limit! What seems to be the problem?"

"Ma'am," the officer replies, "you weren't speeding, but you should know that driving much slower than the speed limit can also be a danger to other drivers." "Slower than the speed limit? No sir, I was doing the speed limit, exactly twenty-two miles an hour!" the old woman says a bit proudly.

The State Trooper, trying to contain a chuckle explains to her that 22 was the route number, not the speed limit. A bit embarrassed, the woman grinned and thanked the officer for pointing out her error.

"But before I let you go, Ma'am, I have to ask... Is everyone in this car OK? These women seem awfully shaken and they haven't muttered a single peep this whole time," the officer asks.
"Oh, they'll be all right in a minute, officer. We just got off Route 119."