Friday, September 23, 2011

cute story




well my dear ones,


I will mention something about myself
only to put the cute story in context.

This past Monday, I woke up with chest pains
and went to the hospital on a 911 call.
(a most uncool experience,
 and I totally do not recommend it!)

The pains subsided the next day,
and the cardiologist let me check out,
provided I went to see her
for a stress test before this week ended.

I had a nuclear stress test yesterday;
they shoot you up with radioactive dye,
take a bunch of pics of your heart,
make you run on a treadmill,
and then take more heart pics.
(wherever the dye can't go,
 shows up as dark spots,
 i.e. blockages)

Today, I got a clean bill of heart health
(praise God!)
thanks, I'm sure, to the many prayers
I got from visitors, friends,
and even the nice tech in the ambulance
(thank you, Heather!)

My thanks and appreciation to all,
yet one prayer in particular stands out,
and that is the cute story.

While I was on the treadmill,
the conversation went like this:

doc: "So, how about telling me a funny story."

me: "Well, I can tell you a cute story."

her: "Cute is always good."

me: "My wife told me our friend, Robin,
  was talking to her husband, Chris, about me,
  and their daughter, Gabby, overheard them.

(the Miss Gabby from "the next generation")

"Miss Gabby asked her Mommy,
'Who's sick?' And she said, 'Mister Dave.'
So little Miss Gabby said,
'Mister Dave picked me up when I fell last week,
I like Mister Dave; I don't want him to be sick;
I'm going to say a special prayer for him.'"

doc: "Aww, that's so sweet!"

me:  "Yes it is!"


Little kids often speak from the heart,
speak without guile,
and just ask God to help others
in the quiet expectation of it occurring.

Perhaps that is why the Jesus said
that to enter heaven
we must become like little children...

...how sweet it would be,
if we all had the child-like faith
of Miss Gabby.  =)



Have a great week!


grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

Saturday, September 17, 2011

time




well my dear ones,


Once a month, the local police
open their training range to the public.

Generally, it's not crowded;
however, today, likely due to the
nice cool weather, it was packed.
I and the friends I met there were told
we would have to wait "quite a while"
if we wanted to shoot this morning.

After waiting nearly an hour,
I was getting pretty ticked off,
and starting to feel like this whole thing
was a just a waste of my time,
a waste of MY morning.

But just nearby to me,
a couple of guys were loading up
some 1860-era black powder
cap and ball revolvers
(think "Quiqley Down Under").
And one of these gents mentioned
a firearm I happen to own,
and wondered why more people didn't shoot them.

I mentioned I had one of the arms in question,
and extolled the fine qualities of it.
A third gent, a friend of theirs,
said that sounded like a fine arm
and how he might like to get one for his sister.

I got my (unloaded) pistol
and brought it over to show it to him.
He admired the polished stainless steel
and contrasting rosewood grips,
noting he'd likely get one for himself as well.
He wrote down the model and I bid him good day.

Shortly after that we got to shoot.
And while reloading, I noticed that gent
was still there,
so I asked the Range Officer if I might
bring him to the firing line
to allow him to try out my pistol
(which was a gift from my most cool wife =>).

This guy was so happy,
and thanked my profusely
for letting him try something
that he now for sure wished to buy
(he shot great; he claimed due to the gun,
 but I could see he had considerable skill
 as well as a good dose of humility...
 ...always a great combination =>).

As I drove home,
I reflected on how my morning turned out
not to be a waste of time at all,
but rather a chance to
make someone else's day.

I came there looking to do my stuff
at my time and got all ticked off
when things didn't go my way.

Yet is not all our time
a gift from God?

Yes, we are all living on God's good time,
and in that scheme of things,
there was something I was meant to do
for someone else.
And how often that's true for all of us.

May we never get so wrapped up in
how we want to spend our time
and in having things our own way
that we miss the chances
to be a blessing to someone else.



Have a great week!


grace, peace, and love to you,

dave

Monday, September 05, 2011

the next generation




well my dear ones,


Friends of mine have a daughter named Gabby;
she's young and a little bit shy
and usually just says "hi" to me.

Last week, I'd bought a new book,
and she looked at it and said,
"That's a really great book!"

When I asked her how she knew that,
she replied
"Because my Mommy said so."

I saw her yesterday, and I told her,
"Miss Gabby, YOU were right;
 that IS a really great book."

As soon as I said that, she just beamed;
she was so happy
(because she was right
 and an adult recognized her for it);
and she taught me a valuable lesson,
one that as adults with grown kids
it's very easy to forget.

Some young person is observing you
and listening to you
and looking to you for affirmation.

So when they do something cool,
let them know it;
a quick praise or word of encouragement
can have effects in their life
that you might not even see
yet it can help them on their path
to becoming the next generation.

We are blessed to be a blessing
and somewhere there is a young person
waiting for you to bless them
with your words, with your time.
Learn to look for these important opportunities
and you'll see your own life enriched.



Have a great week!


grace, peace, and love to you,

dave


"Until one has loved an animal, 
 a part of one's soul remains un-awakened."

                  --- Anatole France



“There is a God, and it's not you.
 Objective reality exists,
 and you don't control it.
 Truth exists, and it can be known.
 You are unique in all Creation;
 your life has meaning;
 and there is always hope.”

   --- The Ever Encouraging Word