As I begin a new year of blogging I am finding it hard to come up with a new topic - even an unexciting one - for a new week. Instead I find myself limited to a variety of probably uninteresting bits and pieces which I have been thinking about. So here I go with a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
1. An Interesting Legacy
A few weeks ago the Lancaster Newspaper ran a feature on a "legendary" local wrestling coach, Neil Turner, who died unexpectedly at the age of 83 following a day watching his son's team wrestle in a Holiday Wrestling Classic. Now I didn't know Turner. I never met him. But I admire the legacy he has left. He reminds me of my late brother who may have even known Turner. The writer described Turner as a "husband, father, and grandfather, a man of deep faith." Another coach remarked "I have so many stories about Coach Turner, but most importantly you could not spend time with him without knowing his love for wrestling, his family, and Jesus." Another coach remarked "so much of what I do as a person, as a Christian, as a coach comes from him. That's how much he meant to me." And finally, his son said "Ultimately his life was about his walk with Christ. His faith was always on full display."
I never met Coach Turner, but I admire him. What a legacy he has left. Did you ever wonder what folks will say about us when we are gone?
2. A Kind Receptionist
Last week I sat for nearly three hours in the small waiting room of the Lancaster MRI Group while my wife was being "filmed". I listened to Gloria, the kind receptionist working there, as she handled dozens of telephone calls requesting appointments and information. I was impressed how she handled herself and the kind responses that she made. But I was even more impressed at how she could quickly carry on conversations with Spanish speaking callers. It was amazing. The MRI Group is fortunate to have such a good receptionist. That is not common today.
I wish that I could be fluent in another language. I took Latin and French in high school and German in college, but I really can't speak or even read in any of those languages. And taking them wasn't even fun.
3. Following Directions
As a retired teacher of 39 years you would think that I would be used to people who don't follow instructions. But I am not. Recently I asked participants of a prayer chain which I operate if they wanted to continue in 2022. To avoid having to read 107 responses I said that they should respond to me only if they wanted to drop off the chain. In turn I received almost two dozen responses from folks telling me they wanted to remain on the chain. Can't folks read? And my message wasn't even in Latin.
When I served as Judge of Elections I printed our signs and directions and used ropes to guide folks to the proper places to register and vote. I wanted to make it easy for voters. But every time numerous folks did not read or follow the directions and some even climbed over the ropes to do it their way. They probably acted the same when they were in school.
We now do all our grocery shopping online and pick it up by parking in special reserved spots in the store's parking lot. But often those spots are filled by those looking for a quick space to park and shop. We've seen people empty their own carts into their cars using these reserved spots and recently we saw a woman park and run in just to buy a pack of cigarettes. Either they can't read or they only took Latin in high school. Or they think they are above obeying the signs. It's sometimes the same with handicapped parking spots. The employees told us that they are not allowed to correct those taking up these spots illegally because they might get angry. It's all part of "it's my right to do what I want".
4. Wild Careless Drivers
Disobeying parking regulations might just inconvenience some folks, but disobeying driving laws and lacking courtesy is a more serious matter. Recently we stopped at a traffic light and some crazy driver pulled up to the right of us and ran the traffic light, never even slowing down. Thankfully nobody was coming the other way because at the speed he was driving he probably would have killed them. Then we recently had two other cases where a driver turned through a red light and we almost hit them as we we were pulling out. That reminded us of the lady who ran a red light a few years ago and hit us broadside. When the insurance claims were filed she changed her story and denied going through the light and we had no witnesses. I guess we learned to beware of "kind" old ladies.
Sadly, we risk our lives every time we drive. We need to seek the Lord's protection for both long and short rides.
5. Be Thankful for 2021
The scripture tell us to be thankful for all things. But that is hard, especially when a pandemic threatens our way of living. At the end of the year Pastor Chuck Swindoll used the words of Moses from Deuteronomy 8:1-8 to share their experiences from 2021. They began the year with terrible winter storms and were without heat and power for weeks. Next came political unrest. Then came the pandemic and they were faced with closings and many modifications. He said that he had no idea how they would survive. He had never heard of live streaming. How could they operate without meeting and without taking offerings. But his church leadership made many major changes, some of which he resisted. And during that year they began to minister to thousands of new participants - including us - by live streaming. Offerings came in. They paid off their huge mortgage and expanded ministries to the poor and homeless and to folks - like us - from all over the world. The Lord used these obstacles to greatly expand their outreach like they never could have expected. He thanked the Lord for all that had happened during memorable 2021.
Maybe we need to stop and consider what positive changes we have seen and made during 2021. We must be reminded that God is in control and will use us when we are yielded to Him.
6. Conclusion
bonne journée ... haben Sie einen guten Tag ... tenga un buen día ... buona giornata ... Ω ± ≠ « µ π ¬ º π ± Ã º ø ¡ ∆ ∑ º ≠ ¡ ±. And of course, Habere bonum diem.
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