Give Them a Hand!

You know what procrastination is, right? In truth you can see in your mind the picture of a certain person who would have their picture next to the word in the dictionary. Hopefully it’s not your picture. These are the people who put off until tomorrow what should have been done last year.
There are many reasons people put things off. I believe the first major reason is they don’t think it’s urgent. The second is almost as crippling. They don’t get it done because they don’t believe it’s necessary. Then there is the fear of failure. If they don’t try, they won’t be proven to be incompetent. And of course, another reason is, they are just lazy and if they don’t do it, maybe someone else will do it. Things are also put of due to people not knowing it needs to be done in the first place.
But this can change when someone needs a hand. And it starts with you. I was talking to a friend this morning at five a.m. We talked about the great weekend and stuff. You know what stuff is. We even talked about how our true self and the ego separate in our personalities until we recognize it and start the process of bringing them back together. But the conversation changed when he asked for prayer for his friend whose sixty-one-year-old wife was told Friday she doesn’t have long. As important as prayer is, can’t we do something to help her in these last months?
We are in a global village but we are so territorial. We talk about helping our own and others can help the rest. I just read something lately and it goes like this, The problem we have as human beings are not that we lack knowledge about the needs of our world but we lack action. Let’s bring it home. Did you know there are students in our schools that could amount to something if only one adult would give three hours a week for one on one? To help them with their math? Besides that, the teachers could really use an extra set of hands. Did you realize that many seniors’ residents sit alone for months with not one visitor other then the staff to turn them in bed? You have seen the commercials on tv where the person has to decide between lights and rent. Are you aware of the bike in your garage that some child would love to ride this spring but it would take a trip to Walmart for a tube and tire and the ten dollars from your pocket? Years ago my dad threw out two brand-new bikes because then need the rotting tires replaced. Have you heard about breakfast programs that could use some Cherios that are on sale this week at Shoppers for $1.88 a box? It doesn’t take much looking to see needs and know we can meet some if not all of them.
We used to be a society that lived the golden rule. Jesus not only said it but demonstrated, “suffer the little children to come . . . ” He told about the ruler asking people to come to the banquet but only the street people were willing to come. When was the last time you gave with no chance a person could pay you back? What would it take to go to the dollar store and hand the check out person $20 and tell them to use it for people who come short of change, or buy four of the five dollar bags of groceries at Sobeys? We look at all these people who give great amounts of money but what about the lady Jesus noticed giving all she had to someone who had greater needs?
Let me end with the words of Steve Goodier who said it better then me, “When all is said and done . . . more will have been said than done. But like the Chinese proverb teaches, ‘The
best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.’
What are you trying to plant? The second best time to do it is now.”
Something to think about.
Rob

Don't you want somebody to love?

Do you remember . . . ? Great question. When a ten-year-old says it, we smile politely and say to ourselves, “They have no idea.” After all they don’t have enough time in to really have a grasp of what remembering is all about. We even wince when a teen starts to reminisce about their past. There are other times these outbursts by children bring a smile of understanding.
It happened to me the other week. My grand daughter was over for the night and we were both up early the next morning. She also gets up early so we had some moments to talk and just check in with each other. The conversation went the same way most grand to grand goes. “How was school? Was dance class good this week? What did you get for your birthday that you really, really liked?” As you know, in most cases they give one sentence answer and try to ignore you. But in those rare moments when it is just one on one they talk and let you into their world. They also ask some very interesting questions. At that time we had opportunity to ask each other questions and our answers brought a smiles and a remembrance to both our faces.
Do you remember...? It reminded me of another year when we had a group of young teens over. It too was a sleep over and on that night there were other questions. Some about like and much about love. They were all getting there. They had noticed the boys for a year or two by then and they had all kinds of questions. Don’t worry parents. They are easy to answer. Then they asked . . . “who was your first girlfriend?”
After returning from the office I sat down in the middle of these girls and passed around the pictures as I read through many of the letters of long ago. With their wide-eyed intensity, I shared something that we all yearn for. I shared the feeling of loving and being loved. It may have been another time when things were simpler and life was kinder. Where houses and cars did not need alarms? But is it really different. When we strip away all the ‘stuff’ of life, don’t we all long for someone to love us? Someone to love? Someone who will know our every wrinkle and fault but never mention them once?
For a ten-year-old, six years ago feels the same as a sixty-year-old looking back to when they were fifteen and first loves. Do you remember . . . when you first met Jesus? When you got to know Him and fell in love. Go back there today. Go back there and realize that all the people around you are longing for the same thing. Introduce them to Jesus. Introduce them to a relationship that will last forever. Relive those moments once more and then realize . . . He is still there beside you. After all, He said he would never leave you or forsake you.
Reach out to Jesus, He’s reaching out to you.
Something to think about

Only Flat On The Bottom

It was a beautiful Thursday afternoon. The drive couldn’t be better. Very few cars on the road, not a cloud in the sky. Just one of those beautiful late spring afternoons. It was a day that most would call, perfect. Couldn’t be better. Punch the cruise button and drift off into never never land of the mind. Work for the day was done and in no time at all, he would be home and enjoying the comfort of the old lazyboy in the corner.
That is, until he saw a car on the side of the road. It’s too good a day to get involved. It’s easy to justify why we would just breeze on by like all the rest. They probably phoned for help. Looks like just a rear tire. Can’t change a tire anymore. At least that is what the doctor said. Someone else will stop. Maybe a tow truck is coming or one of those crash truck vultures will be along soon. Besides, no one wants to get dirty. What if the spare is flat too?
In less then ninety seconds, all these excuses and many more when through his head. Looking around at the sparse nature of the highway, he reluctantly pulled over to see if everything was all right.
It was an older couple on their way to a meeting an hour away and now they didn’t think they could make it in time. Well, they didn’t have a cell phone so he offered his to call for a truck. The voice on the other end, sounding oh so bored with the day and informed them, it would be at least an hour. Nice people here. And so the small talk began. Interesting people with so many life experiences to share. While the talking was going on, he decided to get everything ready for the truck driver. Out came the spare, with air in it, the jack and of course all the dirt and dust of too many years of driving down dirt roads.
Didn’t take long to jack the car up. That was a promising sign. Just for curiosity, he tried the wheel nuts. All the while they talked about this and that. About their lives and children and dreams of the future. Four nuts moved but one said, “I’m not budging.” And so the conversation continued as they stood there looking at one lonely wheel nut. Just one nut away from success. After a few more minutes and a few more tries they all but gave up.
You might be thinking this is not a story about the good Samaritan. Even though it could be, it’s not. It’s about realizing that to accomplish something worthwhile in life we sometimes need to get dirty and do things we are not supposed to do. It’s about wishing there will be someone out there to help me when I need a helping hand. And it’s about getting to know a stranger who shared their life in a brief moment of time.
Flat tire thrown in the back, jack stowed away and both cars resume the journey to their respective destinations. What a beautiful day! The beauty of the day was not in the perfect afternoon, the cloudless sky or the sparse traffic. It does include those things but more. It includes those moments where our lives are interrupted by God so we can get to know someone new.
Something to think about
Rob