Sermon Sauce

3 Steps to Avoid Poverty

2012-08-20T05:54:00.001-07:00

One of our arguments, based in part on a Brookings analysis of Census Bureau data, is that young people can virtually assure that they and their families will avoid poverty if they follow three elementary rules for success – complete at least a high school education, work full time, and wait until age 21 and get married before having a baby. Based on an analysis of Census data, people who followed all three of these rules had only a 2 percent chance of being in poverty and a 72 percent chance of joining the middle class (defined as above $55,000 in 2010). These numbers were almost precisely reversed for people who violated all three rules, elevating their chance of being poor to 77 percent and reducing their chance of making the middle class to 4 percent.

From Combating Poverty: Understanding New Challenges for Families.

Knowing What Is Wrong

2012-08-02T13:16:00.002-07:00

A college student from Texas believes he is lucky to be alive after a terrible crash. He was texting and driving when his truck flew off of a cliff.

Chance Bothe's truck plunged off of a bridge and into a ravine. One of the last things he typed indicated what almost happened to him.

He wrote, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident."

After the crash, Chance had a broken neck, a crushed face, a fractured skull, and traumatic brain injuries. Doctors had to bring him back to life three times . Now, 6 months later, he's finally able to talk about what happened.

Time To Surrender

2012-08-02T07:13:00.002-07:00

One man faced the decision of who to surrender to during WWII. Wehner Von Braun designed and headed up the construction of Germany’s V-2 Combat Rocket was an amazing scientist. Near the end of the war, he found himself near the city of Peenemünde, where he would be captured by the Soviets if he did not take any action. He held a meeting with his fellow scientists to consider whether they should surrender to the Soviets or the Americans because they knew they would have to surrender to somebody, and they decided that it would be better to surrender to the Americans.

So he developed fake documents and had him and his team of scientists transferred to Mittlemark, an area that looked like it would be taken over by the Americans.

On his way there, he was in a serious car wreck. When he woke up in the hospital, he had them just set his arm so that he could get out of there asap because he didn’t want to be taken by the Soviets and wanted to make it to the Americans. He knew that a messed up arm was far less worse than surrendering to the Soviets. Later, he would have to have it rebroken and reset. But he made it to Mittlemark and waited for the American troops to arrive.

The rest is history. After his surrender to the Americans, Von Braun went on to develop the Jupiter – C rocket, which launched America’s first satellite into space, and was the chief architect of the Saturn V rocket, which took Americans to the moon.

The Wrong Guy

2012-08-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Thompson was a 22 year old college student in North Carolina, described as "the perfect student, perfect daughter, perfect homecoming queen." Her life was forever changed one summer night when a stranger held a knife to her throat and raped her.

She was determined to remember every detail about her assailant so that she could identify her enemy and guarantee imprisonment for the rest of his life. She helped the police develop a drawing. She picked Ronald Cotton out of a lineup. She was calm and confident. The police described her as a perfect witness as this white woman testified against this black man. Although he insisted on his innocence, the power of Jennifer's eyewitness testimony helped to convict him and sentence him to life in prison. She never had a doubt.

A year after his conviction Ronald Cotton met another inmate in the prison kitchen. His name was Bobby Poole and they looked a lot alike. Poole was serving consecutive life sentences for a series of rapes. He bragged to other inmates that Ronald Cotton was serving some of his time because he had assaulted Jennifer Thompson. Cotton got a knife to murder Poole but his father told him not to murder but put his faith in God. He followed his father's advice.

A new trial was ordered for Ronald Cotton. This time they saw both men. This time the jury heard the other side of the story. This time they again convicted him on the basis of Jennifer Thompson' s eyewitness testimony. Again Ronald Cotton was sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison.

After eleven years Jennifer Thompson had gone on with her life with marriage and children. Then one day the police detective she hadn't seen in years knocked on the door of her Winston-Salem home. He said, "Jennifer, you were wrong." The new technology of DNA analysis conclusively proved that Ronald Cotton was innocent. Her assailant was Bobby Poole after all.

Jennifer Thompson was shocked. How could she have made such a terrible mistake? She had stolen eleven years of a man's life that could never be given back. She agonized over this for two years and then asked to meet with Ronald Cotton and ask for his forgiveness. She prayed for strength to meet the man. They met in a church building in the town where she was raped. Her husband and the pastor waited outside.

Face-to-face for the first time outside a courtroom, Jennifer said, "I'm sorry. If I spent every day for the rest of my life telling you how sorry I am, it wouldn't come close to what I feel."

Calm and quiet, Ronald Cotton finally spoke: "I'm not mad at you. I've never been mad at you. I just want you to have a good life."

They talked for two hours while the pastor and Jennifer's husband anxiously waited outside. When they all stood outside, Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton embraced. They held each other for a long time.

A few days later Jennifer wrote to Bobby Poole in prison. She asked to meet him. She wrote, "I faced you with courage and bravery that July night. You never asked my permission. Now I ask you to face me." She wanted to meet him to tell him that she forgave him for what he did. She reasoned that if Ronald Cotton could forgive her, she could forgive Bobby Poole. He never responded. Poole died of cancer while in prison, early in 2000.

2012-08-01T07:58:00.004-07:00

In his book How Small a Whisper, Roger Carswell relates an amazing story of a Christian family's response to tragedy:

In May 1987, 39 American seamen were killed in the Persian Gulf when an Iraqi pilot hit their ship, the USS Stark, with a missile. Newspapers carried a picture of the son of one of these seamen, a shy five-year-old boy, John Kiser. He was standing with his hand on his heart as his father's coffin was loaded onto a plane to take him back to the U.S.A.

His mother said, "I don't have to mourn or wear black, because I know my husband is in heaven. I am happy, because I know he is better off." Later on, she and young John sent a letter and an Arabic New Testament to the pilot of the Iraqi plane, addressed to: "The man who attacked the Stark, Dad's ship, in the hope that it will show that even the son and the wife do not hold any grudge and are at the same time praying for the one who took the life of our father."

Bad Driving

2012-08-01T07:35:00.001-07:00

A truck driver is sitting in a crowded roadside diner ready to eat his lunch. It’s not just any diner and any lunch. It’s his favorite diner on the road and his favorite lunch. Just as the waitress brings the truck driver’s meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans to his table, a motorcycle gang swaggers in the door.

Most of them seat themselves at the table next to the truck driver but there’s not room at that table for all of them. The gang members left standing turn to the truck driver and bark, “Move! We want that table!”

The truck driver calmly says, “I haven’t finished my meal.” One of the motorcycle toughs takes his dirty finger, swipes it through the mashed potatoes and gravy, sticks his finger in his mouth and says, “Hey, not bad grub.”

Another gang member takes the trucker’s cup of coffee and slowly pours it over the remaining food on the plate and snarls, “You’re finished now!”

The trucker stands, takes his napkin, wipes his mouth, walks to the cash register, pays for his meal, and silently walks out the door. All the bikers are laughing now. One of them says, “Ain’t much of a man, is he?”

The waitress says, “And he’s not much of a truck driver, either. He just backed his rig over your motorcycles.”

Don't Miss The Main Event

2012-08-01T07:30:00.001-07:00

There once was a little boy who had heard about the circus, but had never been to one. He had read stories about the circus—all the animals and acrobats and clowns, and he really, really wanted to see one. The boy was walking through town one day and saw a poster in a store window that said that the circus was coming to town. Tickets were five dollars, and this boy didn’t have five dollars.

The little boy asked his father for the money. The father said that he wouldn’t give the boy five dollars, but if he cleaned his room and organized all of his toys, the boy could earn the money. So the boy cleaned, tidied, organized, and put everything exactly where it should go. He told his father he’d finished the work, and his father paid him five dollars.

When the day of the circus arrived, the boy ran into town and saw people lining the streets waiting for the circus parade. The boy found a good place to stand, and the parade began—elephants and clowns, horses and acrobats, dogs wearing little hats, jumping through hoops—it was magical. Just like he’d read about. The boy was thrilled!

Bringing up the rear of the parade was the ringmaster in his wonderful costume and top hat. He looked exactly like the ring master in his favorite circus book at home. As the ringmaster passed by, the boy ran up to him and proudly handed over his five dollars. “Thanks, Mister!” the boy said. “What a great circus!” And the boy turned around and ran home.

He never even saw the circus—only the parade! The boy missed the main event!

The Bible As A Guide For Life

2012-08-01T07:26:00.002-07:00

Something amazing and unexpected had happened in the little village of Shimmabuko on the Island of Okinawa. An American missionary on his way to Japan had stopped there and had given a Bible to Shosei and his brother Mojon. He had told them about a loving heavenly Father who cared for them and who had sent them his Son, Jesus Christ, to help them.

“Here is a book which will tell you more about Jesus,” he had said before he continued on his way.

Now Shosei and Mojon held this strange book in their hands. Mojon turned the pages to the story of Jesus which the missionary had marked. He read aloud.

“This is amazing,” he said. “This book will show us how to live. Look, here it says that we are to love and serve one another.”

A crippled man came down the dirty village street. The brothers knew that he had a hard time making a living. He could go fishing only if someone helped him.

“Let us take Crooked Leg with us when we go fishing,” suggested Shosei. “That would be helping others as the book says.”

Crooked Leg was amazed at being asked. Usually he had to beg to go along. The brothers even shared their lunch with him.

When they came back, Crooked Leg asked the brothers, “Why have you done this for me?”

It is because of a new teaching we have received,” said Shosei. “We have heard there is a loving God who is like a father to us. He wishes us to do good and not evil. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to save us from our sins. Would you like to learn more about him, too?”

“Oh, yes!” said Crooked Leg. Day after day he and several others came to sit about the door of the hut where Shosei lived. They listened to the reading from the Bible.

More and more people came to listen. More and more decided to follow Christ and try to live according to his teaching.

That brought about many changes in the village. The people suddenly saw that the roof of the house where a widow lived with her children was leading badly. They fixed it for her. But now the new roof made the others look shabby so one after another the roofs on the other houses were fixed too.

Mojon studied the Bible more than anyone else and so the people came to him for advice. When someone was angry with his brother, Mojon said, “Forgive him. That is what Jesus said we should do.” To the one who had offended, he said, “Do not make your brother angry anymore. Be kind to him.”

In time the people of the little village chose Shosei as the new headman. Shosei was careful to make each decision according to the teachings he found in the Bible.

Gradually the old ways of doing things were left behind. Christian ways took their place. Laughter rang out in the village streets, and poverty disappeared when people were fair to each other and lived for the good of all.

The houses were made neat and clean, and the rubbish disappeared from the village streets. Sickness was less common. Rules were made so people could live in peace. The village was happy and prosperous.

Thirty years went slowly by. Shosei and Mojon became old men and were much respected in their villages.

Then another unexpected happening shook the village. A terrible war came ot the Pacific. American troops stormed ashore on Okinawa. They forced their way across the island. The village of Shimmabuko lay right in their path. The American troops advanced toward it, bayonets ready, guns leveled. Shosei and Mojon knew they must do something to explain that they were not enemies.

The two little old men stepped forward into plain sight. They smiled and bowed low in front of the soldiers. They spoke words of welcome.

The soldiers halted in amazement. An interpreter rushed forward to hear what Shosei and Mojon had to say.

When he came back, he scratched his head in puzzlement. He told the soldiers, “They are welcoming you as fellow Christians! They say their missionary was an American, and they are overjoyed to see you!”

This was very strange. The officers asked whether they could walk through the village.

The two old men bowed and led the way. The people came out of their houses smiling as if to greet their new friends.

The officers could hardly believe their eyes.

Here was a shinging, clean village instead of the dirty, hopeless ones they had seen before. The people were intelligent, healthy, and friendly.

“Tell us,” asked one of the men, “how did it happen that you have this kind of a village?”

Mojon told them about the missionary and the Bible he had left with them. He described how the people had studied it and found in its pages a pattern for living.

The officers were silent. They did not know what to say. Before they left the village, Shosei and Mojon showed them the old, old Bible that had made such a difference in their lives.

Then the Americans strode off to their camp. “Maybe,” muttered one tough army sergeant, “we have been using the wrong kind of weapons to change the world!”

$77,615 Bottle Of 224-Year-Old Cognac Shattered By Clumsy Customer

2012-07-26T08:10:00.003-07:00

$77,615 Bottle Of 224-Year-Old Cognac Shattered By Clumsy Customer

The highlights.

A regular customer destroys a bottle of Cognac from the year 1788.

$77,615 of liquid runs onto the bar floor.

"Unfortunately for all, the bottle of Clos de Griffier Vieux wasn't insured because it had already been open. But, it seems the clumsy customer, a club regular, has been forgiven. "Accidents happen," Calabrese told The Evening Standard."

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

2012-06-14T11:21:00.001-07:00

During the California gold rush, a wagon train was traveling through Death Valley. During the summer Death Valley averages 116 degrees. Right outside of Death Valley, in the middle of Owens Valley is Owens Lake. Or I should say, was Owens Lake. It was there until 1924, from that time it has mostly dried up. So this family was thirsty. Really thirsty. And they were hot. As this particular wagon train trudged through Death Valley, they looked ahead and saw a sheet of water they all believed was Owen’s Lake. But it was just a mirage created by the intense heat, and the harder they pressed on to make it to the water, the more frustrated they became. The water they were seeking and thought they were traveling to wasn’t there.

2012-06-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

The headline reads Houston permit rule stops couple's effort to feed homeless.

Bobby and Amanda Herring spent more than a year providing food to homeless people in downtown Houston every day. They fed them, left behind no trash and doled out warm meals peacefully without a single crime being committed, Bobby Herring said.

That ended two weeks ago when the city shut down their "Feed a Friend" effort for lack of a permit. And city officials say the couple most likely will not be able to obtain one.

Losing With Dignity

2012-06-11T06:36:00.002-07:00

The headline reads Butler Goes Down Its Way.

Vanzant thought it was his fault. Howard felt no better.

And that’s when Ronald Nored, eyes red and tear-filled as well, noticed his teammates, got up, crossed the locker room and reminded everyone what this entire pursuit is about.

He pulled Shawn Vanzant up off his stool and hugged his friend, physically and emotionally attempting to lift him out of his depression.

After a few seconds, Nored stepped over to Howard and did the same. And soon enough, his teammates followed. One after the other, from the freshmen to the managers, from the benchwarmers to the starters, every last Butler Bulldog was taking a moment to remind each other, particularly those bottomed-out seniors, that this was about a lot more than some basketball game.

Indiana Jones' Step of Faith

2012-05-18T09:18:00.001-07:00

It's Free In Heaven

2012-05-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

An 85-year-old couple, having been married almost 60 years, died in a car crash. They had been in good health the last ten years mainly due to the wife’s interest in health food and exercise. When they reached the pearly gates, St. Peter took them to their mansion, which was decked out with a beautiful kitchen and master bath suite and Jacuzzi. As they "oohed and aahed," the old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost.

"It’s free. This is Heaven."

Next they surveyed the championship golf course behind the home. They would have golfing privileges every day, and every week the course changed to a new one representing the great golf courses on earth. The old man asked, "What are the green fees?"

Peter’s reply, "This is Heaven, you play for free."

Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch with cuisines of the world. "How much is it to eat?" asked the old man.

"Don’t you understand yet? This is Heaven, it’s free!," Peter replied with some exasperation.

"Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol tables?" the old man asked timidly.

Peter explained, "That’s the best part – you can eat as much as you like of whatever you like and you never get fat and you never get sick. This is Heaven!"

With that the old man went into a fit of anger, throwing down his hat and stomping on it, and shrieking wildly. Peter and the man’s wife both tried to calm him down, asking him what was wrong.

The old man looked at his wife and said, "This is all your fault! If it weren’t for your blasted bran muffins, I could have been here ten years ago!"

Who Is Guilty? - A story from the nineteenth century

2012-05-15T10:13:00.000-07:00

The room in one of the courthouses in London was packed. The door opened and a small, very thin-looking man was brought in. His jacket seemed miles too big for him.

"Your name is William John Turnbright?" asked the judge.

Yes, your Honor," answered the man in a barely audible whisper.

"Mr Turnbright," continued the judge, "you stole a loaf of bread from one of the bakeries on City Road yesterday. Why did you do it?"

John Turnbright wiped drops of perspiration from his brow. " Your Honor," he said haltingly, "I have a sick wife and two children. They need food. I am unable to do heavy work and easier jobs are not available. Last summer I began to beg so that my family would not starve. This week, however, we had nothing left to eat. I did not know what else to do. I took the bread."

"I did not steal the bread, your Honor. I took it. There were so many loaves lying there. I wondered how many of them, when not sold, would be thrown into the waste containers as old bread. And only one of them would be enough to feed my family for one more day."

"I have an old Bible at home. I read in it sometimes when my wife and children are sleeping. It says there that those who have should give to those who do not have. Your Honor, how long must we wait until something is given to us?"

Exhausted the man stopped talking. The judge who had been listening intently, was quiet for a while.

Then he said, "Mr. Turnbright, we have a law in this country that will not allow any exceptions. You are guilty of stealing and you must pay a fine of five pounds."

The judge paused. Then he pulled out his wallet and took out a five-pound note. He placed it into the container on his desk and said to the man in front of him, "This is your fine. It is paid."

Then the judge let his eyes roam over the people in the courtroom. "Besides the laws that are written into our lawbooks," he said slowly, "there is a universal moral law. According to that law we are all guilty. It is our fault that this man had to steal. Who wants to make restitution to him for that which we have left undone all these years? He who has ears to hear, will hear."

The judge took the container with the five-pound note from his desk and had it passed along the rows of people sitting in the courtroom. The container, filled to overflowing with money, was handed to Mr. Turnbright.

He held the container with both hands and stared down on it as if this were only a dream.

The court was dismissed.

From I Heard Good News Today: Stories For Children.

Johannes Stoffler - End of The World

2012-05-04T05:42:00.002-07:00

In 1499, Mathematician and Astronomer Johannes Stoffler predicted that a great deluge would cover the world on February 20, 1524, a catastrophic event similar to the time of Noah and the Ark. This prediction gained traction due to Stoffler’s respectable position at the University of Tubigen. During the intervening twenty-five years, over one hundred different pamphlets were written and distributed warning of the predicted disaster. People built ships on the Rhine River to survive. Land began to sell in the lowlands and along the waterlines for greatly reduced rates. One famous count, Count von Iggleheim, led the charge and built himself a three-story ship to survive the deluge. This ship sat with many other boats and ships in the Rhine River. Merchants made good money selling survival supplies to all of the fearful people.

February 20, 1524, came. The wealthy who were able to purchase boats were sitting securely with their survival supplies in their boats. And then a giant thunderstorm came. While the wealthy were sitting in their boats, panic set in with the rest of the people. The great storm convinced them that Stoffler’s prediction was true. And hundreds of people died. Not from the storm, but from the mad rush to try and get in the boats already in the river. The deluge did not come. It was just a storm.

Stoffler recalculated to find his error and came up with a new date. He predicted that the world would end in 1528 this time. The Germans failed to heed this new warning and the date passed with barely a notice.

Blue!

2012-04-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

This scene is in Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind.

There is a scene in which a teacher [Elodin] explains to his student [Kvothe] that some things “cannot be described, only experienced and understood.”

“Can you describe all things you understand?” he [the teacher] looked sideways at me [the student].

“Of course.”

Elodin pointed down the street. “What color is that boy’s shirt?”

“Blue.”

“What do you mean by blue? Describe it.”

The student then failed to describe the color blue.

The teacher concluded, “Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating.” He lifted his hands high above his head as if streatching for the sky. “But there are other ways to understanding!” he shouted, laughing like a child. He threw both arms to the cloudless arch of sky above us, still laughing. “Look!” he shouted tilting his head back. “Blue! Blue! Blue!”

Bible Verses for Funerals

2012-04-30T06:51:00.003-07:00

Not illustrations but a link to Bible verses for funerals.

The Envious Bird

2012-04-26T11:58:00.002-07:00

Dwight L. Moody once told the fable of an eagle who was envious of another that could fly better than he could. One day the bird saw a sportsman with a bow and arrow and said to him, “I wish you would bring down that eagle up there.” The man said he would if he had some feathers for his arrow. So the jealous eagle pulled one out of his wing. The arrow was shot, but it didn’t quite reach the rival bird because he was flying too high. The first eagle pulled out another feather, then another—until he had lost so many that he himself couldn’t fly. The archer took advantage of the situation, turned around, and killed the helpless bird. Moody made this application: if you are envious of others, the one you will hurt the most by your actions will be yourself.

Irreplaceability

2012-04-20T17:54:00.002-07:00

Found this on Wikipedia.

"The graveyards are full of indispensable men. ”
—Charles de Gaulle (don't use this quote as being from Charles de Gaulle. It is falsely attributed to him. See the Quote Investigator. - Regan)

If you need to leave, you can be replaced. If you were doing an essential function without anyone else helping you, either the community will do without or someone else will take over and pick up where you left off. Either way, you don't need to lose sleep over the fate of your Wiki-work.

On a more sober note, no individual contributor is so essential that consistent poor behavior will be tolerated. While it is true that idiosyncrasies are more tolerated in established editors with a track record of good contributions, the community has sanctioned any number of editors who made positive contributions to the encyclopedia because their behavior failed to uphold the civility pillar.

Missing The Cake

2012-04-20T10:37:00.005-07:00

Excerpt from Caution: Your Business Is Not Irreplaceable

At The Trademark Company we have created a great place to work. Happy hours. Trips to local sporting events. Other corporate events. One of these traditions is that no one should work on their Birthday, or at least not a full day. So whenever we have a birthday in the office the tradition is the birthday boy or girl comes in, checks their messages, yadda yadda yadda, we have lunch, a sugar bomb cake and send them on their way to enjoy the rest of the day off.

So today it fell on me to get the cake. I know that our birthday girl loves ice cream cake so I planned on picking one up for her just before the lunch. No worries, I thought, the ice cream store that makes the best ice cream cakes is two blocks away. I’ll just swing up at 11:30 a.m., just before the lunch, and grab one of their delectable morsels. Okay, so I waited till the last minute. My bad.

When I got to the store I pulled on the handle. The door would not open. Like all people faced with a door that will not open I curiously looked at the seam between the door and the frame to see if the lock was engaged. To my surprise it was. Hmmmm, I thought, why is the door locked in the middle of the day? Looking inside I could see the employees standing around. Some working on cleaning counter tops, some just chatting away. I stepped back looking for an hours of operation sign. There it was, posted clear as day: Winter Hours, M-F, 12 p.m-6 p.m. Ahhh, I thought realizing I would soon be on the way to forage for another place that makes ice cream cakes.

But to my good fortunate, or so I thought, an employee came to the door. It was now 11:45 a.m. Awesome. He is going to let me in early so I can buy a cake. To my chagrin, however, he just looked at me from the other side of the window and shrugged his shoulders as if to say “Sorry bud, we’re closed.” Got that from the sign, thanks. But since I figured I was here, he was there, I was one twist of a wrist on a latch lock from achieving my objective. So I decided to sweeten the deal. I opened my wallet and pulled out a bundle of twenties. As a married man with children it is not often I actually have cash in my wallet. But today was my day!

I subtly waived the green at the employee through the window pointing to the display case which held $50 to $75 cakes. This would be a good sale to start the day for a store that averages $4 to $5 per cone. The employee approached the door. My victory was assured. Capitalism had triumphed and in a few minutes I would be bringing back an awesome chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cake that would be the best sugar bomb we had had in the office in months.

As he stepped forward, however, he shrugged again, pointing to the sign with the hours of operation, and smirked as he walked away to chat with his other employees. Foiled! Commerce and the temptation of an above-average sale had not been enough.

Undaunted, I stuffed my twenties back into my wallet, drove to my local grocery store, and purchased a wonderful Carvel Ice Cream cake. Thank you Carvel! Always great. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

What Did You Do Today

2012-04-20T09:51:00.001-07:00

A man came home from work and found his 3 children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud. Empty food boxes and wrappers were strewn around garden. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Walking in the door, he found ...an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over. The throw rug was against one wall. In the front room the TV was blaring loudly with the cartoon channel despite nobody watching it. The family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside, he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel.

She looked up at him, smiled and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'

She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?...

''Yes," was his incredulous reply..

She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'

Reaching Your Dreams

2012-04-20T09:08:00.000-07:00

Many of you know of Deion Sanders. Known during his popular days as Prime Time, he is now a member of the pro football hall of Fame after stints in Atlanta, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington, and Baltimore. Back when he was playing both professional football and professional baseball, he became the only athlete to hit a Major League home run and score a NFL touchdown in the same week along with being the only man to play in a Super Bowl and the World Series.

Interestingly, Sanders grew up on the tough streets of Fort Myers, Florida, where he was exposed to some "would-be" athletes that spurred him to make a success of himself. He explains: "I call them Idas. 'If I'da done this, I'd be making three million today... If I'da practiced a little harder, I'd be a superstar.' They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners. When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn't went straight to the streets and never left. That moment after school is the moment we need to grab. We don't need any more Idas."

You're Not Done Yet

2012-04-20T09:00:00.001-07:00

Picture with me a youth baseball game. Picture with me a boy standing up to bat. But this was not just any baseball game…the championship game. It’s been a long year up to this point and the team was so very close to winning it all. It was the last inning, the bases were loaded 2 outs, down by 1 run. The boy batting had his whole extended family there cheering him on, uncles, grandparents, parents, were there just to watch his game just to cheer him on. This was the championship.

The First pitch came, it so fast, he couldn't even react. As he steps out of the batter’s box he decides he's going to swing no matter what. 2nd pitch comes in right over the plate and he swings but misses. The boy zeros in on the pitcher and re-grips his bat. Now comes the 3rd pitch, everyone's cheering, Let's go. You can do it. He concentrates, and swings as hard as he can and... he misses. Strike 3 you’re out. The other team in their excitement rushes the field cheering, high fiving, and they carry the pitcher off the field. The boy’s team hangs their heads some of them are crying as they walk off the field. If only someone else would have been up to hit last. Quickly the stands empty and the little boy just stands at home plate silent. Both teams clear out. The boy feels alone.

Suddenly he hears, "You're not done yet." He lifts up his head with tears in his eyes and he sees his dad taking the mound, his uncle is headed to 1st base, his mom goes to second and a bunch of aunts filling the outfield. His grandpa at short stop.

His dad from the mound says pick up your bat. You can do this.

The dad winds up and pitches one in. the little boy swings hard again but misses. "Try again." His dad says.

This time the boy hits it but it just kind of slowly rolls toward his grandpa at shortstop.

"Run" yells his dad and all the aunts start cheering from the outfield run!

He takes off at full speed and as luck would have it grandpa at short misses the slow roller and it trickles into the outfield.

By the time his aunt in left field gets it he's halfway to second, she "accidently" throws to first instead and by the time his uncle catches the ball he's rounded 2nd and is heading to third there he beats the throw to his grandma on third. But the throw was over his grandmas head…so he takes off home.

As he heads home his family cheers wildly and his dad runs to home plate to take the catch.

The grandma throws home, the kid slides head first, Dad misses the tag. He’s safe! The whole family rushes him celebrates with him and carries him off the field on their shoulders chanting his name loudly and proudly.

Where's My Recognition

2012-04-20T08:55:00.002-07:00

An old missionary couple had been working in Africa for years and were returning to New York to retire. They had no pension; their health was broken; they were defeated, discouraged, and afraid. They discovered they were booked on the same ship as President Teddy Roosevelt, who was returning from one of his big-game hunting expeditions.

They watched the fanfare that accompanied the President's entourage. As the ship moved across the ocean, the old missionary said to his wife, "Something is wrong. Why should we have given our lives in faithful service for God in Africa all these many years and have no one care a thing about us? Here this man comes back from a hunting trip and everybody makes much over him, but nobody gives two hoots about us, it doesn't seem right."

When the ship docked in New York, a band was waiting to greet the President. The mayor and other dignitaries were there. But no one noticed this missionary couple. They slipped off the ship and found a cheap flat on the East Side, hoping to see what they could do to make a living in the city.

That night the man's spirit broke. He said to his wife, "I can't take this; God is not treating us fairly." His wife replied, "Why don't you tell it to the Lord?" A short time later he came out from the bedroom a changed man.

"The Lord settled it with me, I told him how bitter I was that the President should receive this tremendous homecoming, when no one met us as we returned home. And when I finished, it seemed as though the Lord put his hand on my shoulder and simply said, 'But you're not home yet!'"

from Ray Stedman's Talking to My Father