"Christian Voices" (1-22-04)

April 1, 2010

HUMOR

A Milk Funny

One day I was having breakfast with my daughter, who was about 8 years old at the time. I had done what any good dad would do, I fixed her a bowl of cereal. I even poured the milk into the bowl myself.

We were having some great conversation during our mealtime, when my daughter got up from the table with her bowl. When I asked her what she was doing, she told me that she was going to throw her "cereal milk" away.

Now having been well educated on how cereals are sprayed with vitamins and also how that vitamin spray often gets "washed off" of the cereal, I cautioned her about her pending blunder. I said, "Kati, I can't believe that you're going to throw your cereal milk away. That's my favorite part." She had a pondering look on her face for a moment, then proceeded to drink most of the milk. 'Mission accomplished,' I thought to myself. 'I really am an amazing dad!'

Fast forward a few weeks to Father's Day morning. As we sat down to eat breakfast as a family, I could tell something was up. Everyone was obviously in on this grand Father's Day surprise but me. I didn't mind because I knew that whatever surprise was awaiting me, it would be amazing. After about 10 minutes of giggles and some secret language that everyone understood except me, a pint-sized plastic bottle was placed on the table in front of me. I stopped eating a very delicious breakfast to see if I could solve this little mystery that had everyone so giddy.

As I picked up the container, I spun it around to see if there was a label or a note… nothing. So finally I asked, "What is it?". Kati said, "Dad, it's your favorite!"

Hmm, I thought to myself. What is my "favorite"?

Finally stumped, I asked her, "Kati, what is my favorite?"

She said, "Dad, you told me that cereal milk was your favorite so I've been saving mine for you all week and mom helped me put it in this bottle!"

In disbelief, I looked at my wife. She grinned and nodded in confirmation.

Not quite sure how to handle this situation, I paused to consider my options. Then did what I knew I must do. I picked it up, unscrewed the lid and took a good long drink.

Of course I told Kati that this was the BEST cereal milk I had ever enjoyed and a Father's Day I would not soon forget. Then she made me promise to enjoy ALL of it later.

And, of course, I did.

Now that she's 14 years old, we have laughed about that day many, many times!

.....Mikey's Funnies (http://www.mikeysFunnies.com) by way of "Christian Voices" (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)

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THOUGHT PROVOKING – INSPIRATIONAL

NOT TOO EARLY; NEVER TOO LATE!

"Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years." (Genesis 18:11) "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young." (1 Timothy 4:12)

Age isn't related to important achievements. Maturity, yes. Attitude, absolutely. Skill and intelligence, of course. But not age.

Benjamin Franklin, already a successful publisher, inventor, diplomat and signer of the Declaration of Independence, led the convention that drafted the Constitution of the United States. He was eighty-four. A few years earlier, about the time Franklin was signing the Declaration, Mozart was living in Salzburg, having just completed all five of his violin concertos, each one a masterpiece. He was twenty. Age had no bearing on that summer of significant moments.

Some time ago I interviewed a young man seeking a job. At nineteen he lacked spirit, the fire within—if there had ever been one—just an ember. The same day I spoke to a new friend, age eighty-seven, whose voice was alive, eyes shining, energy directed toward what was next. Age is irrelevant. Attitude is everything. Trying, not giving up, caring enough to use the resources we've been given—these are the things that matter.

So William Gladstone at eighty-five was prime minister of England and the world's leading statesman. At seventeen Elizabeth Barrett (Browning) published a volume of serious poetry. Galileo was dictating records of his latest discoveries about the rotation of planets (and hiding them in his mattress in order to avoid punishment as a heretic) when he was seventy-eight. Michelangelo began painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in his early thirties. Insight, determination and genius are not limited by age.

Martin Luther was thirty-four when he walked to the door of the castle church in Wittenburg, Germany and posted there the ideas for change he wanted to debate with Church leaders. Abraham, founder of the Hebrew nation at the age of one hundred, might have smiled at how one so young could do something so important while Timothy, at twenty-six the leader of one of the largest Christian churches of the first century, might have wondered what had taken Martin so long.

Beethoven had composed a prodigious quantity of music by the time of his death at fifty-six, while Grandma Moses, the famous 20th century folk artist, didn't take up painting until she was seventy-five. Golf prodigy Michelle Wie turned professional at fifteen, the same summer as my father-in-law, age ninety, made his first hole-in-one.

We're not too young to do something significant. And we're never too old.

Bottom of Form

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THE LONGEST LINE

The longest line that I ever stood in wasn’t in a store. It wasn’t to see a movie or a concert either. It wasn’t even in the Department of Motor Vehicles. The longest line I ever stood in was at my friend Tim’s wake. Tim had died a young man and his loss had shocked our small community. When I arrived at the wake I was amazed to see the line stretching from inside the small funeral home to down the street as far as the eye could see. People had come from hundreds of miles away to be there and to offer their love to Tim one last time. I saw people there that I hadn’t seen since high school and others whom I had thought I would never see again.

The line moved slowly forward as we waited and shared our memories of Tim. We talked about how funny he had always been without ever seeming mean-spirited once. He loved a good joke and would share them even in a football huddle during the middle of a game. We talked about how Tim was always kind and helpful to anyone in need. In his short but loving life his joyful spirit had touched a thousand people in a thousand different ways. We grieved about how he would never see his kids graduate from school, but also took comfort in knowing that a part of Tim lived on in each of them. We laughed, cried, remembered, and thanked God for the time we had Tim’s good soul with us. When his funeral was held later no indoor building could hold it. We had it on the junior high school football field that was later renamed after him.

In his short time here Tim had made his family, our community, and the world so much better. His loss left a hole in us all. Still, I think that we now laugh a little more, love a little deeper, and share joy a bit more often because of how he touched our hearts. Is there any more fitting tribute to a life well lived? May all of us live as well and love as much. May all of us too never wait in line when it comes to sharing God’s love and making the Earth a little more like Heaven.

.....Joseph J. Mazzella (joemazzella@frontier.com) by way of "Christian Voices" (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)

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