Beware of .........

I worked for many years at a doctor’s office. The doctor loved history, artifacts, petrified wood, fossils, etc. I worked during off-hours sometimes as I was the transcriber and the quiet helped. One day as I was preparing to leave the office, someone knocked on the front door. I opened it, expecting it to be a patient. There were two young men standing there. They were dressed rather pecularly, in a manner commonly thought of as geek wear. Their pants seems a little too short and their waists a little too high, and, believe it or not, they had pen holders in their shirt pockets. I asked if I could help them and one of them replied that they had something that would be of interest to the doctor. They had heard about his interest in antiquities and such and wanted to show him what they had. I informed them that he was not in the office. They proceeded to unwrap an item and showed me a small metal looking thing that appeared to be a likeness of a griffin. For those who are not familiar with a griffin, it is a winged monster with an eagle like head and the body of a lion. The guys told me it was a genuine iron likeness which had been uncovered during the unearthing of an ancient city in the far east. I took hold of it and turned it around in my hands. It was heavy but it didn’t feel like iron to me. I tapped on it and decided it was ceramic and probably was not what they represented it to be. I handed it back and told them that the doctor wouldn’t be interested.

You know, it just goes to show you…. Beware of geeks bearing griffs!

God Can Handle IT

I would like to share an amazing story. It concerns some friends of mine and it shows me very clearly how God takes His own sweet time to meet our needs. This man and woman have had some hard knocks over the past few years, mostly to do with his health problems. He went into renal failure and is doing dialysis three times a week. He has been unable to work and his wife's work varies from part time to full time. They have had problems dealing with the VA and disability services. During these years, they began attending a church where they found the love and friendship they desired. Because of various transportation problems, they became unable to travel the 20 miles or so to their church. Being a tough Vietnam Vet, he was a little skeptical of "religion" but loved the pastor and the people. Well, things continued to worsen for them financially. They were on the verge of losing their rental house, several utilities had sent disconnect letters, she got laid off, they were still struggling with getting their retroactive disability and VA benefits. They were one step away from being homeless. He talked to the VA officer and was told that he could expect the check in two weeks. He and his wife pondered this, wondering how they would survive that long. This is the good part. They both told me that, though she had been praying all along, he had finally said something to the effect, "Well, God! Only you can take care this." Instead of two weeks, the check came in two days. They paid for six months' rent in advance, paid their utilities, bought a vehicle that actually runs, and put some away for a "rainy day". And the Sunday after the money arrived, he woke her up and said, "Get up! We're going to church." So do you want to guess who is praising the name of the Lord these days? I pray he takes the appropriate step to ensure his salvation (I don't know if he has or not, of course.)

I explained to them that sometimes God just wants us to be willing to be willing, and that when you're flat on your back, the only way to look is up. God broke his will and he became mold-able. PTL

I Have a Question.

Hey writers out there! I have a question. When I want to tell a story or antedote about a real person, will I get in trouble if I don't use their real name? What if he is recognized because of the story?

Second Time Around

I was reading this old post, one of the first ones I did. I decided to republish it because I don't know if anyone actually saw it then, except for my daughter.

The eyes of the "unloveables" Today was our church service at a local mental health care center. While Carl was speaking, I was looking at each person sitting there. All were listening carefully and respectfully. Because I also go there weekly to do a "Bible study", I know them all pretty well. I saw in their eyes a soul and spirit that God had placed there. A spirit which has been beaten up by mental illness and the stigma that goes with it. In spite of that, most of them are friendly and as happy as they probably can be anywhere. I know that a lot of them had been basically turned away by their families because of years of mental illness, behavior problems, drugs, or alcohol. Many do have family members who are in contact. Many have schizophrenia or bipolar diagnoses and have probably been sick most of their lives. There are a few elderly but most are probably under 60, many in their 30s or 40s. I was thinking... "who loves these people?" I do. They trust me and treat me very well. Some of the staff love them. Some have worked there for many years and consider the residents their own special family. Others can't take it for very long but it's just as well that they move on. It is a difficult place to work. Every staff member has to know all the behavior modifications for each resident, if there is a problem. Who else loves them? God, for sure. For some reason he allowed them to be affected by mental illness. Why, I don't know. But whenever someone treats them kindly, he is treating God's creation kindly, and He gets the glory.

Do a Rewrite

What originally struck me was: "......that would require the owners of cats that are 4 months or older to be tagged...... Okay let's tag the owners of cats but only if the owners are 4 months or older. Now, let's rewrite the paragraph (long sentence).

By the way, the next sentence says: "The measure also require that animals impounded for any reason not be returned to owners until they comply." Well, you tell me. How do you get a cat to comply?


HEE HEE

Writers and Wordsmiths, Analyze This Please

This is an excerpt from an article in CAPITOL NOTES by Charles Ashby, Pueblo Chieftain's Denver Bureau chief. Credit given:

Read this sentence (paragraph) and tell me what strikes you. This isn't about the contents of the bill itself but the contents of the paragraph.

"Two Denver-area Democrats have introduced a bill that would require the owners of cats that are 4 months or older to be tagged with some form of identification, either in the form of a tag on its collar or a microchip in its head."