20
January 2001
Subject:
Getting It Right
Dear
Ones,
Well, it's Saturday and time to take another marble out of the jar. Have a great day and may all your Saturdays be special.
Don
GETTING
IT RIGHT
A young boy was sitting in the back seat of the car eating an apple.
He poked his father in the front seat and asked, "Daddy, why does my apple
turn brown?"
His father answered, "When the skin is removed from the apple,
air reaches the flesh of the apple and causes oxidation. This
changes the apple's molecular structure and results in a brownish
color."
After a long pause, a small voice from the back seat asked,
"Daddy, are you talking to me?"
Too often I feel like that boy! I want answers. I want solutions
to those confusing problems I run up against. I want someone to
explain how to get through the difficult times and complex
problems so that I can get it right!
But I think I identify a bit more with the father whose daughter
asked him if he would help her with some homework.
"I'm sorry," he replied. "It wouldn't be right."
"Well," she said, "at least you could try."
I don't have that many answers. And hard as I try, I can't ever
get it all "right."
But one of the most wonderful answers I DO have is this: I don't
HAVE to always get it right! I don't always have to know what to
do in every new situation I encounter. All I am required to do is
give it my best, learn from the experience and go on.
The affable Dr. Leo Buscaglia once said, "No one gets out of this
world alive, so the time to live, learn, care, share, celebrate,
and love is now." Which is pretty hard to do when you're waiting
for the answers first.
So you got it WRONG! So what? Forgive yourself and try again. For even if you
won't get out of this world alive, you CAN get
life -- joyful and abundant -- out of this world.
- Steve Goodier
Thoughts
to ponder...
*You
will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really
lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. - Henry
Drummond
*It
is necessary to the happiness of a man that he be mentally faithful to himself.
- Thomas Paine
*Trials
teach us what we are; they dig up the soil, and let us see what we are made of.
- Charles Haddon Spurgeon
*Conscience
is the voice of the soul. - Polish Proverb
*If
there were no bad speculations there could be no good investments; if there were
no wild ventures there would be no brilliantly successful enterprises. - F.
W. Hirst
Prayer for the New
Year
God grant us this year a wider view,
So we see others' faults through the eyes of You;
Teach us to judge not with hasty tongue,
Neither the adult... nor the young.
Give us patience and grace to endure
And a stronger faith so we feel secure;
And instead of remembering, help us forget
The irritations that caused us to fret.
Freely forgiving for some offense
And finding each day a rich recompense,
In offering a friendly, helping hand,
And trying in all ways to understand,
That all of us whoever we are...
Are trying to reach "an unreachable star."
For the great and small... the good and bad,
The young and old... the sad and glad,
Are asking today, "Is life worth living?"
And the answer is only in "loving" and "giving."
For only "Love" can make man kind
And Kindness of Heart brings Peace of Mind,
And by giving love we can start this year
To lift the clouds of hate and fear.
- Helen Steiner Rice
Above all, maintain constant love for
one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another
without complaining. Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one
another with whatever gift each of you has received. - 1 Peter 4:8-10 New
Revised Standard Version
A
Quarter
Several
years ago a preacher moved to Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived,
he had occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he
sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter
too much change.
As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, you better give the quarter
back. It would be wrong to keep it. Then he thought, "Oh", forget it,
it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway the
bus company already gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it
as a gift from God and keep quiet."
When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter
to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change".
The driver with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town?
I have been thinking lately about going to worship somewhere. I just
wanted to see what you would do, if I gave you too much change."
When my friend stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole,
and held on, and said, "O God", I almost sold your Son for a
quarter".
Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read.