Lost Swimmer

 

July 30 from my journal

 I ‘m 17 and the waterfront director at a Boy Scout camp. The counselors had left the water for lunch. My assistant says there is still a nametag on the board. Go check his campsite while I check the water.

On my fourth dive, I see the body several feet below me. I gasp, lose my air and re-surface. My heart is pounding. I take a deep breadth and dive straight down, arms extended. As I near the bottom the body is a towel draped over some rocks. When I surface my assistant is walking on the dock and tells me our missing person is at the dinning hall. My reaction is how heaven feels about a new believer.

"Rejoice with me for I have found my sheep which was lost." (Luke 15:6)

Small Plane Crash

 July 28 from my journal-weekend post

 A small plane plunges into the dark ocean off Martha's Vineyard claiming the lives of the pilot, John F. Kennedy, Jr., his wife, Carolyn and her sister, Lauren Bessette.

JFK Jr. left for the island that night despite predictions of poor visibility. A  reporter who is also a pilot concludes JFK Jr. fell victim to the young pilot's disease he called, "gotta-get-there-itis."

 I ask God, what am I supposed to learn from all this? "The reply comes quickly.

"Without counsel plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established."(Proverbs 22:1)

Angels in My Life

 

 

from my journal,July 26

 My thanks to these special angels:

An orthopedic nurse whoserved me for ten years so I wouldn’t be crippled;
The priest who stopped and taped a leaky fuel line in my car on a hot summer day;
The unknown angel who awakened me just as I was drifting off the road.

Thank you Lord for sending these and others in my time of need.

“He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways." (Psalm 91:11)

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"How was your day?"

 

July 25 from my journal

 How often do I casually respond, "ok or fine,"

 I take another look. The car accident that almost happened but didn’t, lunch with a friend and a hug and smile from my wife when I left. There were no severe pains, nothing dangerous to face, a computer to use, music to hear, and a Bible to read.  It was not just Ok. It was a blessed day.

 

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."(John 10:10)
"How was your day?" I now answer, "Better than I deserve."

A Valuable Reminder

 

 

July 24 from my journal

Roth, who is in his seventies and has Parkinson’s disease told this story to our group. He is at the pool and a young girl  swims to the ladder where he is standing.

"I thought because I am older and in my condition she should let me come down first. But she grabs the ladder, lifts herself  out of the water and swings by me into a wheel chair. It is then I see she has no legs. And I am thinking I’m handicapped.” We all needed to hear Roth’s message.

 "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." (John 7:24)

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Getting Out of My Cave

 

 

July 23 from my journal

 

What do you do when your wife tells you she feels disconnected from you. I go into my cave to process and sulk and then pray.

 On this day, I return home to a sweet embrace. Entering my office I see a love note from Joy on my swivel chair. It is a  pencil drawing of a dark cave with two eyes peering out (me) and outside is a dancing piglet (one of my nicknames for her) trying to coax me out. I can honestly tell her that I am now out.  How God has softened my heart and removed my hurt. It takes my breath away. Wow!

 “O Give thanks to the Lord for He is good: for his mercy endures forever.” (Ps 136-1)

Violent Storm

 

July 16

 I am preoccupied with shell fishing when a crack of thunder startles me. I prepare to leave, but my motor won’t start. The sky is black. Here is a college kid in an open boat, no radio, no flares, no horn.

 A commercial fisherman approaches. All he says is, "need a tow?"  He throws me a rope. I sit,soaked and shivering with lightening all about. There is nothing I can do but leave it in God’s hands. This moment gave  me an appreciation for the apostles who awakened Jesus during a violent storm.

 

After rebuking the wind and waves Jesus said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful?How is it you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40)

from gofigureamerica.blogspot

Lady in the Rain

 from my journal some years ago

July 19

 We are at a stop sign and I clearly see a lady standing in the rain. She doesn’t even have an umbrella. I drive by and I'm convicted driving down the highway. I could have invited that lady into our car for a few minutes or at least given her our umbrella. I feel shame, guilt and ask for forgiveness and tell myself I will be more responsive to the needs of others.

 “Lord when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to You? Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did

not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me." (Matthew 25:44-45)

Church Greeter

 

July 18

  I read that Mahatma Gandhi once read about Jesus and was so intrigued that he headed for the nearest Christian Church. A greeter confronted him at the door and reportedly said, “You don’t belong here, go back to your own kind.” Think of it,the spiritual leader of India was turned away.

I remember Gandhi when I'm a greeter for our church. Actually I should be a greeter all the time spreading God's love.

 "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him." (Acts 10:34-3)

What is going on here?

What is going on here?

 

 

The Hartford Courant newspaper ran a photo showing two toll booths guarding a bridge. Both booths had green lights but one lane was empty while the other had a line of vehicles.

 

 The caption revealed that commuters were saying goodbye, some even tipping, a friendly caring toll taker who was serving his last day on the job. Those toll booths have since been removed but fond memories linger about a special toll taker who greeted frequent travelers by their name.

 

"Whatever you do, work at it with all  your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. (Colossians 3:23)



 



“Sixes and Sevens”

 Weekend July 13-15

  My grandmother called it, "sixes and sevens." meaning, I’m confused, not focused. In the mail is a flyer, quoting Thomas Merton.

"My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.  I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone." What timing. Thank you Lord.

 

"Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." (Proverbs 3:5-6) This has become my life verse. What is yours?

 

from gofigureamericablogspot

Dead Tree Branch

 July 11

 Joy has left for the day and now is my chance to remove the dead branch hanging over the water. Joy wanted me to hire someone but I know I can do it myself. I reach up and twist the branch. SNAP. At that second I realize I am standing directly underneath this branch. How dumb.  

I brace for the impact. Splash. The main branch crashes harmlessly into the lake and I am left holding some twigs and feeling absolutely stupid. The Lord has taken pity on a fool.

 "Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good! For His mercy endures forever." (Psalm 136:1)

From my journal

                                                 Three Boys and a Snake

 July 10

 At Boy Scout camp, two boys and I confront a dull brown and red snake with a vibrating tail.  One boy pins the snake with a stick. The other boy grabs it and put it inside a flimsy cupcake box. In a flash the snake springs out of the box, slithered over a bare knee to the ground and escapes. A bugle sounds and three tenderfoot scouts run off to a parade field.    .

 Angels were looking after three boys that Sunday when that poisonous Timber Rattlesnake chose to get away rather than get even.

 

" He will give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways."(Psalm 91:11)

 This is no joke

 

It is a restaurant in a cave. The room is well lit, yet a lone candle burns on a ledge. Our waiter says, "that's our test candle as long as it flickers we’re fine.”  Nervous laughter. Half way through dinner a woman yells, "The Candle is out!" Heads turn. "It is OK," her husband says relighting the candle, "the waiter was only joking." My life is like that test candle. I can light up with His truth or stay in darkness and that is no joke.

 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven, (Matthew 5:14,16)

 Would you give all to save a life?

July 5

 

One summer, President Eisenhower made an impromptu visit to the University of Rhode Island where I was a student. There was Ike standing tall in an open car. Someone yelled, "Hey Ike!" and tossed a golf ball toward the President, prompting a secret service agent to leap and grab that ball in midair.  It could have been a  bomb and that agent was ready to sacrifice himself for our President. Am I ready to give up this life for Christ? Are you?

 

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

                              A Brief Conversation with God

June 30 From my journal 

 

This is God's Day. I read, I pray, I meditate, I fast, and at 4:47 I have a

BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH GOD.

"How are you saved?"

"By your son dying on the cross.”

"Do you believe that? (I nod)You are saved."

"What about people who (don't or) stop believing?"

"It is your job to tell them. Do you love your neighbor as yourself?"

"I hardly know my neighbor."  

"I know!"

“A backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, But a good man will be satisfied from above.” (Proverbs 14:14)