The young girl was in front of me at the checkout counter. She had earrings protruding from every facial location. Her hair was colored the color of the rainbow and pointing in every direction. Even with all the camouflage it didn’t hide the fact that probably she was under age.

The young cashier had the responsibility of asking the young girl for an ID.  She was attempting to purchase cigarettes.  There was an explosion of a vocabulary that I hadn’t heard in a while. I can’t quite remember how it all concluded, but I do remember the salesperson wanting to cry. My heart went out to her.

She needed comfort, so I made up a story for her. I said, “You really do need to excuse her because it’s a proven fact that the dye she is using seeps down into the hair follicles, through to the skull and into the brain.  It makes one react to events unpredictably and really isn’t her fault.”

I left the clerk laughing and realizing the world is composed of nice people and some not so nice. Be kind to those who serve you because service of any type can be trying.

1 Peter 4:10

 Every believer has received grace gifts, so use them to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many-colored tapestry of God’s grace.

Think what opportunities God has given to you to help another make it through the day.

Gary

And they all lived happily ever after is a statement found in many mythical childhood books. It sure sounds good but is disproved over and over again in the test flights of life. Life can be a wild ride and too many times ends in tragedy.

Someone once stated, “It is pain, hardship, and temptation shot through with radiant gleams of light, friendship and love.” Most of us can agree with that.

Case in point is the birth of Sampson and what seemed to be such a promising life. His life, however, was nothing but heartache to his parents, and contained periods during which he had no use for spiritual things, but in the last minutes of his life prayer to his Creator brought great victory.

No, we don’t find those “lived happily ever after” accounts in Scripture or in life experiences. However, we can have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus promised us that:

John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Why don’t you trade life’s mythology for something that can be attained?

Think about it.

Gary

We all have a special location that at a young age we fell in love with. Mine is the Allagash Falls. My first view of it was when I was a child. Dad would be in the stern of the canoe, mother in the bow and me in the middle, sitting on some supplies for the trip. Dad would motor around the bend and there she would be foaming in all her glory. He would motor full speed right towards the falls until mother would scream. I couldn’t count the number of occasions he pulled that stunt on her, but it seemed like it happened every summer until I didn’t want to go with them anymore.

I try to go back to that spot, in what is now part of a state park, at least once a year. I’m always trying to find someone who has never seen the beauty of the Allagash waterway to share that experience with. What was so special to me has become special to a number of people. Maybe you could book a day trip with me on the river. The cost is nothing and my relatives and friends help in the logistics.

Sometimes I think God created that piece of natural beautiful just for me:

Romans 1:20

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Do a replay in your memory of all the beautiful places you’ve experienced while being on the planet.

Think about it.

Gary

A tall, old Irishman was standing there holding a Bible in his large right hand. His left arm was missing including the shoulder. Only pictures of him remain now along with what he contributed to many a life that came into contact with him. He is gone to meet his Savior and has been made completely whole.  That arm lost to an industrial accident has been replaced. Only the memories of our many conversations cycle through my brain.

A few years back I got to meet him and through successive visits got to know him and love him for the Christian he was. After talking to many who had grown up with him, I developed the impression that anyone who considered him a friend or did business with him was blessed. Being the eldest in his family, this entrepreneur knew hard work at a young age. Expecting to work hard and being obedient to that ethic is what he practiced throughout his life. He faced life’s challenges head on and considered them a new situation that had to be overcome.

No one has an easy life and his involved many twists and turns that would have destroyed a lot of men. The stories he related to me came from a humble heart and painted a picture of a man of integrity. The old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” Well, he was a living example of that.

Perseverance means continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure, or opposition: the action or condition or an instance of persevering: steadfastness. This is the attribute I feel exemplifies him.

Galatians 6:9

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

He didn’t lose heart and left us a biblical example.

Think about it.

Gary

Many times an instructor will encourage the class to ask questions by saying, “There is no such a thing as a dumb question.” I’ve taught enough classes in my lifetime to know there are plenty of dumb questions. I told a student once, “Did that question come out of the twilight zone?”

The greatest question found in the Book of Acts is in 16:30, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”   The answer to that is so simple. Paul stated, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” The sin problem that has plagued us all our lives can be placed squarely on the finished work of Christ.

Ephesians 1:13

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

That is the most intelligent question ever contemplated. Has that concern come out of your mouth? If not, ask it today and the answer will surprise you.

Give it some thought.

Gary

“The Wanderer” is a song written by Ernie Maresca and originally recorded by Dion, released on his 1961 album Runaround Sue.  It tells the story of a man only living for lust and destroying many a girl’s life in the pursuit. It always amazes me how much damage one individual leaves in the wake of his life because his only concern is self. Many a young man has fallen into this category.

The apostle John gave a warning about this kind of philosophy of life:

1 John 2:16

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

The strong desire for evil comes from the very nature of man. John, inspired by God, warned the early Christians that this malady was not to be part of their experience.

Give it some thought.

Gary

My dad was the foreman for a lumber company that had a camp about twenty-five miles in the North Maine woods. As far as I can remember, I would torment him to take me along when he went to work. Around twelve-years- of-age, I had a particular plan. I would go in the woods with him on Thursday, bring my bike, spend the night, and after a hardy breakfast in the cook room, peddle back home on Friday. For some strange reason, he agreed.

I was alone, but this was going to be an adventure. There would be some tough climbs because my bike had only one gear. Downhills could be taken at breakneck speeds and turns taken on the edge. Narrow bridges over brooks had to be traversed carefully because of the way planking was placed. There was also a section where a forest fire had happened some years before, which I considered to be quite creepy.

Years later, I asked myself, why would anyone let his kid do that? Did he just think it would be a day during which I wouldn’t be in his hair? No, I think he believed the time had come when this young boy had to do some flying on his own.  There were many truckers going back and forth whom, I believe, he asked to keep a watchful eye for the kid.

The Father has many tools to keep an eye on us that are mentioned in Scripture. My personal passage that reveals the Father’s care is as follows:

Genesis 28:15

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

Life is a journey, but our Father never takes His eyes off of us as we travel down that road.

Proverbs 5:21

For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.

Give it some thought.

Gary